Two Worlds
by Scarecowy
Summary: Takes place after the battle of the Burning Plains. Eragon disappears from Alagaësia and finds himself in an entirely new world. What does this mean for the Varden and how will Eragon get back to his world. Rated M for language and eventual ExA.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: First, I own none of the characters from the Inheritance Cycle. Second, All original characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.**

**This is my first Fanfic, so please read and enjoy. I have it rated as M due to the use of Language, and possible adult content in later chapters, so please do not read if you do not want to see that stuff. This is fairly AU, but I hope that it is still a good read. Reviews are greatly appreciated.**

* * *

Eragon needed some time alone after the battle of the Burning Plains. He had just told Arya, Nasuada and Roran the truth about Murtagh. He was Murtagh's brother, Morzan's son. He had expected Nasuada and Roran to be disgusted that they had the son of one of the Forsworn among them. He thought they would show outrage at this discovery. Instead, they had accepted him, and tried to console him. Eragon, however, needed some more time to comprehend what had happened during the battle. He needed to spend some time alone with his thoughts.

_What troubles you little one?_

At least, as alone as one can be when they are a Dragon Rider.

_I am thinking about the battle we just fought, and how powerful Murtagh became in such a short period of time._

_It is most unnatural_, Saphira stated. _Thorn should not have been that large after being hatched for such a short amount of time._

_I think that it may not be possible for me to beat Murtagh. He was able to beat me easily, after having already killed Hrothgar. How can I possibly fight against an opponent like that?_

_We will find a way_, Saphira reassured him, _perhaps Oromis has something more to teach us. And once the Elves join us on the battlefield, they will be able to provide aid. But that is not that troubles you is it little one?_

_No it is not_,Eragon sighed, _How can Nasuada and Roran try to comfort me? How can Arya look at me in the same way? I am the son of Morzan, one of the Forsworn._

_They can comfort you because they are your friends. I know you Eragon, and you are the same person today as you were before. Just because Murtagh told you that you are Morzan's son, you are no different of a man. Thousands of children, Elf and Human, passed my egg, and yet I only hatched for you. I hatched for you because I saw that you were a good person, and that you would become a good rider, and that is probably what Roran and Arya still see in you._

_Thank you Saphira_, Eragon said as they started to land next to the Jiet River, _you are the best companion that I could ask for._

_I know. You are welcome._

Eragon got off of Saphira and began walking around, surveying the landscape. _We should prepare to leave for Helgrind soon. Roran will want to find Katrina as soon as he can._

Saphira began to respond but was interrupted by a new presence against their minds. Eragon lowered his barrier and allowed the familiar person inside.

_Eragon._

_Arya._

_Where are you Eragon?_

Eragon sent her a quick mental image of his position by the river. _What do you need Arya?_

_Nasuada requires your presence for a strategy meeting at her pavilion._

Eragon began to turn back to Saphira to get on her, _All right, please let Nasuada know that I will be-_

*Flash*

* * *

Sergeant Timothy Walker leaned back against his seat inside the V-22 Osprey. Somehow, the conversation that they were having about women had devolved into a debate about geopolitics.

"The Taliban are obviously the biggest threat to the United States. They were the first foreign power to attack us on home soil since World War II," Private Louis Perez said.

"All I am saying," Private Nick Schneiter continued, "is that the European Consortium is becoming more and more dangerous. When our own allies are starting to turn against us I think we have a problem."

Pfc. Dale Rae chose to join the conversation at this point, "Not all Europeans are in the Consortium. It is just a small terrorist group trying to hang on to the political power they had last century."

"I don't know," Schneiter said, "just this past week they arrested some members of the French Parliament were arrested for their involvement in anti-United States activities that the Consortium committed."

"Yea, but who is going to be shooting at your ass in a few weeks, the Taliban or the French," Pfc. Carey Rubio stated to a chorus of laughter.

At this point Sgt. Walkers radio activated, "Sgt. Walker, this is Marine Base, come in."

"This is Sgt. Walker, what do you need?"

"You and your squad are ordered to halt your training mission and go to grid 36-A3 and investigate possible terrorist activity."

"Terrorist activity north of Los Angeles? What is going on?"

"There has been a possible EMP strike 50 miles northeast of Los Angeles. All electronics in the greater Los Angeles region have gone dark."

"EMP strike," Schneiter said in a low voice, "Is that more likely to be Taliban, or a European country that actually has EMP technology." Rubio kicked out at Schneiter in mock anger.

"Roger that," Walker continued, "We are 60 miles out, ETA 10 mikes"

"Air Force will be providing air support with F-22's," base stated.

"Understood."

"Oh boy, the Chair Force will be providing air support, we are saved," Pvt. Jeramey Maski joked.

"OK guys, enough messing around. Check your weapons and be ready to hit the ground in under 10 mikes" Sgt. Walker said.

Immediately 9 different pairs of hands were expertly going over their weapons, making sure that they were ready to be used once they got on the ground.

"Why would someone EMP 50 miles away from Los Angles," Cpl. Roy Gerling asked, "what are they trying to accomplish?"

Cpl. Scott Mckoy elaborated, "could it be the Chino-Russo Federation testing a next generation weapon?"

Lance Cpl. Vincent Song came out of his almost meditative state to answer them, causing the whole squad to look at him. "We do not know if it even was an EMP strike, we can not make an accurate deduction until more facts about the situation are known."

On this note, the squad remained quiet and contemplative until they landed.

The first thing that Sgt. Timothy Walker noticed when getting off the back of the V-22 Osprey was the scorching summer heat. It was after 4 o'clock in the middle of June, and the temperature was over 100 degrees. He surveyed the desert plains around the V-22 and quickly found the large crater that they had observed from the air, just 100 feet to the rear of the Osprey.

He quickly took charge of the situation, "Alpha fireteam, on me, lets go check out that impact crater, bravo fireteam, spread out and secure the perimeter."

His squad quickly took to action. Cpl. Mckoy, Lance Cpl. Song, Pfc. Rubio and Pvt. Perez took up positions on either side of him as he ran towards the crater. While they approached the crater, Cpl. Gerling's fireteam split into groups of two, and began to circle around the crater, keeping their distance at around 70 feet away from the crater and checking the ground and the perimeter to secure the area.

When Sgt. Walker got within 30 feet of the crater, he slowed down. Fireteam alpha took up positions at his side, Mckoy and Vincent on his right, and Rubio and Perez on his left. As they approached the crater, Walker noticed a civilian walking around inside the crater.

He called out to the civilian, "Excuse me sir, this is a dangerous area, I am going to have to ask you to exit the crater."

The figure in the crater turned towards him, and by now, when they were 15 feet out, Walker could see a sword in the civilians hands. Walker immediately raised his M16A4, and following his lead, fireteam alpha on either side of him also raised their weapons.

"Drop the sword! Drop your weapon and get down on the ground," Walker shouted.

"Eka malabra ono né haina!"

* * *

Eragon slowly began to awaken. He sat up off the ground, and looked at his surroundings. He looked to be in the burning plains still, however something seemed different. Suddenly noticing what was bothering him, he turned in a slow circle, yet he could not see the Jiet River. In fact, he could not even see the Varden camp on the horizon.

_What happened Saphira?_

No answer arrived for Eragon. _Saphira, where are you?_

Eragon became alarmed. Was this some sort of new attack that Galbatorix was executing? How could he form a counter attack so quickly when his armies had just a few days ago began a full retreat?

Looking up in the sky, he saw what looked like a dragon flying towards him, as the object got closer however, he noticed that it was not a dragon at all. Reaching out to it with his mind, he noticed that it was not even alive. He instead felt minds of 11 different humans that appeared to be encased by this flying metal object. The dragon copy flew over his head, and landed a ways away from the crater that Eragon was standing in.

Eragon began to move towards the flying contraption in order to ask what had happened or where he was. He noticed 9 humans exit the being, and begin to move about. As Eragon was about to call out to them, he realized that he did not have any weapons. His bow and the arrows were still on Saphira's saddle, and his sword was not at his side. Eragon began to search the ground for his sword, and found it just a few paces behind him. He walked over to the sword and picked it up.

One of the men behind him spoke, "Excuse me sir, this is a dangerous area, I am going to have to ask you to exit the crater."

Eragon began to turn towards the 5 men that had come to the crater in order to ask them if they knew what had happened and where he was. While Eragon was turning, the middle man in the group noticed the sword that Eragon held in his hands and an alarmed expression overtook his face. He along with the 2 men to either side of him raised the strange devices to their shoulders, and pointed the tips of the devices at him.

The man in the middle spoke again, this time in a demanding shout, "Drop the sword! Drop your weapon and get down on the ground!"

Realizing that they thought that he was a threat, Eragon quickly responded in the Ancient Language, "I mean you no harm!"

"Eka malabra ono né haina!"

* * *

As soon as Sgt. Walker heard the man speak these words, he felt that he was not a threat. Confused, he lowered his weapon as the man put his sword in his sheath at his side. Sgt. Walker approached the boy, for it was a boy that looked no older than 17 rather than a man, and asked, "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

"My name is Eragon," the boy replied, "and I do not know what is going on. Who are you, and can you please tell me where we are?"

"I am Sgt. Walker of the United States Marines, and you are in the middle of the desert about 50 miles northeast of Los Angeles. Did you see what happened here?"

"I am afraid that I do not know of this town of Los Angeles, Is it a new town? Can you tell me how far it is from here to Surda?"

At this point it became fairly obvious to Walker that this boy was not going to be much help in figuring out what happened here as it seemed like he was probably on some sort of drugs. "There is no such thing as Surda around here. You should probably get out of that crater. Go with Pvt. Perez here to the Osprey and lets make sure that you have not been injured by what has happened here."

"Wait, have you seen my dragon?"

Now Walker was certain that the boy was on drugs, or had serious brain damage. "There is no such thing as dragons, you should go with Perez and we can get your statement about what happened here later. We need to clear the area and make sure that it is secured."

"There most certainly are dragons, I am a dragon rider. You must have seen her in that flying contraption of yours. She is large, and she has brilliant blue scales. You are sure that you have not seen her?"

By this point, bravo fireteam had finished their perimeter check, and were snickering behind Walker at the intoxicated boy. Perez started to lead the boy away from the crater while listening to his ravings.

Walkers radio became active again, "Marine ground squad, this is Raptor 1. Be advised, there is an unidentified bogey converging on your position at over 200 knots from the northeast."

"Eyes up marines, possible hostile inbound."

Walker, along with the 7 other marines around him, turned away from the boy to the northeast. He saw a rapidly approaching blue figure that almost looked like a giant flying lizard. He estimated that the bogey would be on their position in less than 20 seconds. Walker and his two fire teams raised their weapons and readied to fire.

The boy called out behind him, "Wait, letta!"

* * *

The men lowered their devices as Eragon put away his sword. The man in the middle of the group started to ask him questions, however Eragon did not think that the men would be much use. They did not seem to know that Surda even existed, and they kept on talking about this town of Los Angeles. Eragon supposed that the group may have been from a small farming town that was left alone by the Empire. Apparently after a while, the man, Sgt. Walker, realized that he was not making sense to Eragon, and had one of his men start to lead Eragon towards the large metal craft. Approaching the craft, Eragon realized that they may have seen Saphira from the sky. He quickly decided to ask them.

"Wait, have you seen my dragon?"

This group of soldiers had apparently never even heard of dragons however, and when Eragon decided to try and describe her, it seemed to amuse the men behind Sgt. Walker. Resigned, Eragon decided to walk with Pvt. Perez to the Osprey as the men had called it and see if he could make more sense of what these soldiers knew about where he was.

He started to talk with the man that was leading him away, when all of a sudden he felt another presence rush into his mind.

_Eragon!_

_Saphira! Where are you Saphira?  
_

_I am coming to you now._

From behind him, Eragon heard Sgt. Walker speak to his marines, "Eyes up marines, possible hostile inbound."

Eragon looked over the marines heads, and saw the most beautiful sight. Saphira was flying towards them at full speed, and Eragon could feel her eagerness to be reunited with her rider over their mental link. Comprehending what Sgt. Walker had just said, and noticing the way that the soldiers were acting, Eragon realized that the marines thought of Saphira as a threat.

Fearful for Saphira's safety, Eragon tried to get the soldiers attention, and called out "Wait," but the soldiers were moving too quickly, and Saphira was approaching with too much speed. In desperation, he decided to use the ancient language, "letta!"

The spell immediately took a toll on Eragon, and he felt a drain on his energy as he stopped the 8 soldiers from raising their weapons. The marines were surprised at their sudden inability to raise their weapons, giving Saphira enough time to majestically land in front of the soldiers.

Eragon ran past the soldiers and lovingly embraced Saphira's neck as she bent her head down to greet him.

_Saphira, what happened? All I remember is talking with you next to the Jiet River and then I woke up here._

_I do not know what happened Eragon. I remember being at the river, and then I awoke to be falling through the skies. I could not sense you, but I saw that flying craft over there_, she gestured to the Osprey, _and decided to investigate. I lost sight of it, but then I sensed that you were near and flew towards where I knew you would be._

_I am so glad that you are here Saphira. I thought that I lost you!_

_You will have to try much harder to lose me little one._

"What in the hell is going on here?" Sgt. Walker yelled at them. "Is that a dragon?"

"Yes Sgt. Walker, this is my dragon. Please allow me to introduce you to Saphira."

"But, that is impossible. Dragons do not exist, there is no such thing."

_He does not seem to be the most helpful two-legs-round-ears. _Saphira told Eragon. Then opening the conversation to the 9 men in front of them, Saphira said, _Have you never heard of a dragon before?_

Apparently they had not only never heard of dragons before, but they had also never been communicated to through minds because as Saphira spoke to them, a look of shock washed over the group.

"Holy shit, did you guys hear that? I think that it spoke in my mind!" one of the men that Eragon did not know yet exclaimed.

"Calm down Rubio," Sgt. Walker snapped. Regaining his composure, Sgt. Walker addressed both Saphira and Eragon, "Obviously, Eragon, you were telling the truth about your dragon, as you Saphira are evidence. Let us start over our conversation. Where exactly did you guys say you were from?"

"Well I am from Carvahall, but we were just at the Burning Plains, north of Surda. Have you never heard of these lands?"

"No I am afraid that I have not, these names mean nothing to me."

"Where in Alagaësia are we?" Eragon asked.

"We are not in Alagaësia," Sgt. Walker said, "we are in the United States of America, and I am beginning to think that this situation may be above my pay grade. Wait there while I call my superiors for orders."

* * *

Whatever Eragon said, it had stopped Sgt. Walker from raising his weapon. Taking a quick look around, he also noticed the 7 marines around him were also having difficulty moving their weapons. While he was trying to understand what was going on, the large winged lizard landed in front of his men. The creature definitely looked like a dragon, with large magnificent wings and brilliantly bright blue scales. The dragon was larger than a house, dwarfing Sgt. Walker and his squad.

While Walker was getting his thoughts in order, Eragon ran past him with speed that surprised him, and embraced the dragon in a hug around its neck. Deciding that he wanted to gain control of the situation, Walker yelled out at Eragon and the dragon, "What in the hell is going on here? Is that a dragon?"

Eragon responded that it was his dragon, and when Walker said that that was impossible Eragon and Saphira looked at each other, and Walker heard a beautiful and foreign voice in his head, _Have you never heard of a dragon before?_

Walker wondered whether he was the only person who had heard the voice, until he heard Pfc. Rubio behind him say, "Holy shit, did you guys hear that? I think that it spoke in my mind!"

Walker told Rubio to calm down, and decided to try and look at the situation anew. Obviously because Saphira was right there in front of him, what Eragon had said was true. At least some of what Eragon had said was true. He tried to ask Eragon more questions about where he was from, however he still got the same answers, that he was from Alagaësia, and he was currently supposed to be near a country called Surda.

At this point, Walker thought that he should report in and get orders about what to do next, so he started to talk into his radio, "Marine Base, this is Sgt. Walker at the possible EMP site, our squad has secured the position, however there may be a problem here on the ground."

An unknown voice came over the radio, "Sgt. Walker, this is General Marcellus Forde. Please tell me that these Raptor pilots that are talking into my ears are idiots. I am getting reports from them that there is a dragon?"

"Um, yes sir," Walker said sheepishly, "there is currently a dragon with us on the ground, and a civilian is here claiming to be her rider, what should we do sir?"

There were a few seconds of silence on the radio, and then General Forde's voice was heard again, "Understood Sergeant, I am making a no fly zone around your position. Secure the area, and make sure that no one else sees the dragon. I should be there in 20 minutes with Senator Wayne Kenner"

After he was finished talking on the radio, Sgt. Walker took action, "All right. Let's secure the area. Pfc. Rubio and Pvt. Perez, go to that road south of here, about 300 yards to the west, and stop any east bound traffic, Pfc. Rae, you take Pvt. Schneiter and Maski and go do the same from the east side." The 5 men split up and started sprinting towards the road in order to set up their positions. "that should stop people from seeing Saphira directly from the road, but they can still see her from the checkpoints probably. Saphira, can you please get behind the Osprey and get as close to it as possible? We do not want to cause a panic."

_If that would make things easier, I can comply. _Saphira responded to him in his head, and started to move behind the Osprey.

Walker then turned to the group that was remaining. Eragon, Mckoy, Song, and Gerling were still standing in front of him. "Let's wait behind the Osprey with Saphira. I am sure that you have some questions, just as I have some questions for you and Saphira."

As they walked to the Osprey, Mckoy spoke up. "Fuck, were we just on the line with General Forde? And he said he is coming with Senator Wayne Kenner?"

"This got big fast," Gerling said, "When the Chairman of the Armed Services and Homeland Security Committee and a four star general are coming to you, there is no doubt that you just stepped in something big."

"Not only the Chairman ASHS, but the founder of Instant Crisis Solutions, one of the largest Private Military Companies in the United States," Vincent Song added.

"No shit," Cpl. Mckoy added, "I sure am glad that I am not in charge right Sergeant?"

"On the contrary Mckoy, I will just tell them that you were the one that found them. I was with bravo fireteam securing the perimeter," Walker joked.

The two F-22's passed by every few minutes, defending the no fly zone, and after 15 minutes of waiting, 2 more Osprey appeared on the horizon coming from the east. They landed next to each other, and as soon as the V-22's were on the ground, a bundle of activity erupted from them. First, around 30 soldiers got out of the two aircraft, and ran towards Walker and the group carrying different ammounts of supports and tarps and began setting up a giant pavilion. While this was going on, a group of five people stepped out of one of the aircraft and started walking towards them. There was a General in the middle, and to his right there was the senator in a business suit. To the left of the General, Walker saw, was a woman who did not look to be over 25 with long brunette hair. Behind both the woman and the senator were 2 marines who looked to be guarding the group.

* * *

Eragon began anew describing the situation to these new arrivals as the noise from the construction of the tent started to die down. Eragon was surprised that the men could construct a tent with the ability to hide Saphira so quickly, but then he also realized that there was much that he did not know about them when they flew around on metal ships.

Much of the conversation did not make sense to Eragon, and Saphira as well. It seemed like the conversation currently was more designed to inform this general and the senator about what was going on, and not to inform Eragon and Saphira about what was going on. Eventually Eragon and Saphira stopped commenting on the conversation when the woman, who was apparently a Doctor, started talking about alternate universes, and theoretical physics.

While they talked, the 5 men that had originally been with Sgt. Walker returned and stood with Walker. When they were talking about where to house Eragon and Saphira, Eragon found that he had to enter the conversation again to ask a question.

"How can Saphira and I get back?" Eragon asked.

Everyone stopped talking and looked around at each other.

No one was able to answer Eragon.

* * *

Arya sat in her tent contemplating the days events.

"What do you mean he is gone," Nasuada asked, "has he left the Varden, is it because he is Murtagh's brother?"

"No," Arya replied, "He is simply gone. I do not know what happened. He was in the middle of talking to me and all of a sudden his presence was no longer there."

"Well what does this mean, has Galbatorix done this? What do you see when you scry him?"

"I do not know if it was Galbatorix. It is probably not him or else we could have expected a counter attack to hit us by now. When I scry him, I can only see him, none of the landmarks and features around him. But I do see him with Saphira."

Nasuada and Roran asked Arya many more questions, however they were not getting any closer to finding out what happened to Eragon, and it was decided that they would begin searching for the rider in the morning.

As Arya sat on her cot, she decided to understand the events that transpired. It was most, concerning when Eragon ceased talking to Arya through the mental connection. The fact that Eragon was no longer in the Varden camp was unexpected for Arya, and it disconcerted her.

"Where are you Eragon," Arya whispered to no one in particular.

A single tear made its way down Arya's face before falling to the ground.

* * *

**So that was chapter 1. I realize that it was a fairly long chapter, but I felt like I had to go through the effort to introduce the characters well. I do not know if future chapters will switch back and forth between the points of view as much, but I am definitely going to have points of view from Eragon, Arya and Walker. I am in the middle of writing chapter 2 now, and I hope that it will be up by Sunday. Please review, I want to know what you guys thought worked well, if there was anything that bothered you about the story or my writing style, and what I can do to improve the writing for you guys.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: First, I own none of the characters from the Inheritance Cycle. Second, All original characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.**

**OK, quick authors note. First I want to thank everyone that Reviewed, Favorited and added this story to their Alerts. I get more motivated to write more quality content when I see that you guys are motivated enough to take your time to review the content. Second, my finals week is this next week, so I am not sure how much I am going to be able to write during that time, but once classes are done, I should be able to write much more. **

* * *

Sgt. Walker looked around at the figures seated around the fold up table. On one side of the table, Walker and his squad were seated, ready to answer any questions that General Forde or Senator Kenner asked. Directly across from them sat the General and the Senator, listening to Eragon as he informed them of the situation from where he was from. Eragon told them of Dwarves, Elves, Urgals and Galbatorix. He told them of the current war between the Empire and the Varden, and the oppression that Galbatorix had imposed on his people. He also informed them about the magical powers possessed by the elves and some humans, to which Senator Kenner made an incredulous comment. Eragon quieted the Senator by speaking a few words and causing a rock to float off the ground and land on the table in front of the Senator.

Saphira sat behind Eragon, and kept an eye on all of the men inside the tent, especially the Marines. When Walker looked into Saphira's eyes, he saw a great wisdom within her, and a great caring for Eragon as he told his story. Finally Eragon told them of how he was talking to an elf by the name of Arya when he appeared in the middle of the desert just 50 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

When Eragon was finished, General Forde turned to the other end of the table and looked at the woman. Her name was Dr. Allyson Saunder, and she was one of the best theoretical physicists in the country. She happened to be with General Forde showing the latest in high tech weapons to Senator Kenner when the EMP hit.

"What are your theories Dr. Saunder?"

"Right now my leading hypothesis," Dr. Saunder began, "is that Eragon and Saphira have crossed over from an alternate universe."

"What makes you say that?" the General asked.

"The first evidence that points to this theory is the alternate evolutionary process that I believe happened in Eragon's universe. With the evolution of the Elves, Dwarves and Urgals, and obviously Dragons," Saunder inclined her head at Saphira, "we can assume that this universe has had an alternate evolutionary path. It is quite possible that the development of magic in this universe could be the result of ESP being introduced to the evolutionary process many thousands of years before humans in our universe began observing ESP."

"The second reason for making this conclusion is the EMP wave itself. While we were approaching the landing site, I took some readings of the area. There were particles consistent with an EMP strike, however these particles did not react properly. My theory at this point is that when Saphira and Eragon crossed over from their universe, not all the energy that was used to transport them across was used up, so it burst out in a pseudo EMP wave."

"OK, now that the Senator and I have been informed on what has happened, the next pressing issue is where should we house Eragon and Saphira?"

Before the Senator had a chance to respond to General Forde's question, Eragon spoke up, "How can Saphira and I get back?"

No one spoke for a few seconds. Walker looked at Eragon. He did not see a Dragon Rider with the reflexes and speed of an elf and the ability to use magic. Instead when Walker looked at Eragon, he saw a frightened 17 year old boy, who was unthinkably far away from everything that he knew and loved.

Dr. Allyson Saunder finally spoke up, "I do not know yet Eragon, but I promise you this, I will find a way to get you back to your universe. It can be done."

"Thank you," Eragon nodded at Dr. Saunder.

"To answer the previous question," the Senator said, "I have a complex in the desert in Arizona. It may be possible for Eragon and Saphira to stay there while Dr. Saunder finds a way to get them back to their universe."

"I don't know Senator," Pfc. Rubio said, "I am not sure if they have the proper papers to enter Arizona."

Walker angrily looked at Rubio for the joke that he had made, and was glad to see that it looked like Mckoy had landed a painful kick on Rubio's shin from under the table. "All jokes aside sir," Walker said, "How would Saphira get to Arizona without being seen. The airspace between Los Angeles and Arizona is some of the more used airspace in the region. Not to mention that Saphira's blue scales on the desert landscape would stick out like a sore thumb."

"No matter," the Senator dismissed Walkers concerns, "We can transport Saphira in a military flatbed, only retrofit it to carry a dragon instead of an ICBM. And we can keep Saphira inside the compound once we get there so it would not be seen."

Walker quickly noticed a look of displeasure overcome the features of both Eragon and Saphira. Eragon looked to be about to talk, but Walker responded to the Senator quickly as to not let Eragon make powerful enemies. "Sir, I disagree with this plan. We can not ask Saphira to remain indoors and be transported via flatbed. The drive alone would take at least 7 to 8 hours, and I don't think that we can ask her to remain in tight quarters for that amount of time. I believe that a better course of action would be to go north, to the Sierra Nevada mountains. We could fly under the darkness of the night, and Saphira would be able to remain hidden among the mountains from planes. Much less air traffic crosses the southern Sierra Nevada's than central Arizona."

General Forde looked back and forth between the Senator and Sgt. Walker, before finally looking at Eragon and Saphira. "What would the two of you prefer?"

Eragon and Saphira looked as if they were speaking over their bond for a few seconds, and Eragon responded, "We would prefer to go north, and allow Saphira to remain in the open."

"All right," the General said, "I know of an old marine base next to a lake up there. Sgt. Walker, you and your squad are to escort Eragon, Saphira, and Dr. Saunder to the base and guard them while Saunder works on a way to get Eragon back to his universe. Saunder, give me a list of all the personnel and equipment that you will be requiring, and I can be sure that it is airlifted to the base within a few days. It should be getting dark enough to leave within 10 mikes, fuel up the Osprey and get ready to head out within 15 mikes. I do not want to waste much more taxpayer money upholding this no fly zone."

Senator Kenner looked displeased at how the conversation ended. "Wait, I have a man that should be a help for this effort, I will send him to the base so he can help Dr. Saunder with her efforts."

The conversation finally finished, everyone got up from the table and went to set up various efforts in order to leave. Dr. Saunder started to compile a list of the supplies that she would be needing. Senator Kenner said something about informing the President about the situation, and Walkers team started to make sure that they had all their gear together before they left. Walker was about to do the same when General Forde motioned him over.

"Yes sir?"

"Sgt. Walker," General Forde said in a low voice to deter eavesdroppers, "I am going to need you to make sure that nothing happens to Eragon or Saphira. It is a likely possibility that different countries or organizations could have learned about Saphira already, either through informants or spy satellites. They may try to take her or Eragon in case they can make a military or economic advantage out of them. Do not let this happen."

"Yes sir."

Walker turned away from Forde and began walking to his gear when Saphira snaked her head in front of his path. _I wanted to thank you for standing up to the Senator for me. I know that Eragon would have said something, but he did not know about the landscape and would have probably done more harm than good if he tried to counter the Senator._

_Oh shit_, Walker thought, _do I respond to her through my thoughts?_

Walker heard what he thought was a laugh inside his head, _Thinking your response will work well enough Sergeant._

_OK Walker, good going, Earth's first actual human to dragon conversation, and you are not making Earth look that good._

_I would not say that_,Saphira continued to Walkers embarrassment that she was still hearing what he was thinking, _the Senator however, has not made a good first impression on me. He seems to think of me as an object to be controlled. You however treat me like a living being. Again I thank you._

_He does not mean it Saphira_, Walker tried to explain, _He is just used to controlling things because he is in a position of power. I am sure that he knows that you are a majestic and independent dragon._

_Why thank you Sergeant Walker_,Saphira said as she swelled with pride. She began to turn away and walk back towards Eragon when she stopped and looked back at Walker, _If we do get attacked Sergeant Walker, I will be proud to fight along side you._

With that Saphira walked away. Bewildered, Walker again turned towards his packs, making several mental notes. First, it seemed like Saphira responded well to compliments and praise, and second, Saphira listened in on more conversations than she let on.

* * *

Arya had a troubled sleep that night. For the first time since her imprisonment by Durza, Arya found herself in a nightmare.

Eragon was on the ground, about 20 paces from Arya. He was calling out to her for help, and Arya began to move towards him. Before Arya got within arms reach of Eragon, the figure of Galbatorix rose out of the ground, and raised his sword high in the air, and swung.

Eragon's head was separated from his body and rolled around on the floor before finally ending up looking at Arya.

"I needed you Arya, where were you?" Eragon's mouth asked. Arya picked up Eragon's head in her hands, but the head melted into a pool of blood, running down her hands, and dripping on the ground.

Arya awoke with a start from her dream. It took her a moment to realize that it was only but a dream. She noticed that her heartbeat was slightly elevated. Arya decided to lower her heartbeat and calm down. There was a long day ahead of her tomorrow, and she needed to be well rested.

She laid her head back on her cot once she had calmed herself to an acceptable level, and she went back to sleep.

"Where were you?"

* * *

**So that was Chapter 2. I am going to try to write more chapters like this, with only about one to two point of view switches in the chapters. Keep it up with the reviews, let me know what you think. I will have Chapter 3 up soon.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: First, I own none of the characters from the Inheritance Cycle. Second, All original characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.**

**Wow, I am beat. Just finished 3 finals today, only 2 left and then I am done. Thank you again for the reviews that I am getting. After Thursday, I should be able to write at a much faster pace. Anyways, here is Chapter 3.  
**

* * *

Eragon sat in the rear of the Osprey as the group prepared to leave. They had decided that it would be best to leave in the middle of the night as to make Saphira less visible from the ground. Eragon would have rather been flying on Saphira, however her saddle was damaged somehow in the crossing between universes, and Sgt. Walker did not want to risk Eragon falling from her. Eragon tried to explain that he and Saphira had flown so much together that Saphira would be able to catch him if he fell, but Sgt. Walker countered him.

"I have no doubt that you and Saphira are experts by now in flying," Sgt. Walker said while taking Eragon off to the side of the tent, "but I would like to have some time to talk to you before we get to the base so that we can familiarize ourselves with aspects of each others worlds so we can work better together. I believe that the sooner that we do this, the better prepared we will be for any eventuality."

_He is right little one_, Saphira said, _It would be best for us to understand as much of this world as we can. The information that Sgt. Walker could provide would be invaluable. Besides, I will fly right beside the metal dragon and be within speaking distance for the whole time._

They had said that the flight would last just under two hours. The base that they were going to was 200 miles to the north of where they were. Apparently the Osprey could have reached the base in less time, however they decided to fly at a slower pace to allow Saphira to easily fly alongside them.

And so, Eragon was seated in the rear of the Osprey, next to Cpl. Gerling and his fireteam. Across the aisle, Cpl. Mckoy and his fireteam were mirroring Gerling's fireteam, leaving the seat on the rear most part of the craft open for Sgt. Walker for once he finished overseeing ground preparations for takeoff. They had kept the four sides of the tent in order to block any line of sight to Saphira from the ground, they had, however, removed the roof of the tent in order to allow the V-22 and Saphira to fly out the top.

Dr. Saunder was not going to fly with the Marines because she was busy preparing her equipment for the airlift to the base. She would be joining the group the next day arriving with her supplies.

"All right," Sgt. Walker said as he stepped inside and took a seat, "We are ready for takeoff."

The rear door to the Osprey shut, and Eragon had a moment of anxiety at his lack of being able to see Saphira.

_Fear not little one, I will stay in your mind, I will not be leaving you._

_Thank you Saphira._

Eragon heard the Osprey's engines begin to revolve. The Osprey began to lift off the ground and gain altitude. After they had risen for about 20 seconds, their upward movement stopped, and they began to move forward.

_I must admit that these two-legs-round-ears used a large amount of ingenuity to make this metal dragon_, Saphira commented, _it is still not as impressive as a dragon however._

_Nothing is more impressive than watching you fly_, Eragon assured Saphira.

_That is right_, Saphira said contentedly.

"So Eragon," Sgt. Walker said, breaking the silence in the craft, "what do you want to know about our universe?"

"Everything," Eragon said, "as much as there is to know."

Sgt. Walker chuckled, "Well that is a lot to cover in one flight. Why don't we start with some of the more dangerous stuff that you should learn first."

And so, for the next 30 minutes, Sgt. Walker and his squad told Eragon of the guns and other weapons of Earth, of the vessels that roamed the sea, and of the different types of machines to fly in the air. Eragon could feel Saphira's pride at how many different machines the people from Earth made in order to imitate flight in the domain of the dragon.

After a while however, Eragon had trouble remembering all of the information that Sgt. Walker told him. When this happened, Sgt. Walker suggested that they take a break from teaching Eragon of Earth.

Sgt. Walker had his own questions for Eragon however. "Back at where you landed, what did you say that made me not be afraid of you?"

Remembering his first encounter with Sgt. Walker, Eragon replied, "I only said to you 'I mean you no harm' in the Ancient Language."

"But why did I believe you, how can I know a language that I have never learned, and how would I have known that you were not lying?"

"Every living thing knows the Ancient Language in our lands, it is possible that the Ancient Language crosses boundaries and is known by all beings. As for how you knew I was not lying, it is actually impossible to lie while speaking in the Ancient Language."

"Really?"

"Yes. Well, that is not quite true. You can not say something that is untrue, however you are able to deceive by saying one thing while meaning another. Elves are masters at manipulating the Ancient Language."

"Can you teach me some of the Ancient Language?" Sgt. Walker asked.

"I can teach you some of it," Eragon said. Eragon taught Sgt. Walker and his marines some of the words of the Ancient Language. They began with easier words, "eka means I, and ono means you." but they soon advanced to learning harder words, like friend and quiet. Eventually, the marines found the same problem that Eragon had by learning of too much, so they decided to continue teaching the Ancient Language some other time.

By this point the pilot had informed them that they had reached the mountains, and that they were about halfway there.

Feeling curious about the men he was with, Eragon decided to ask, "You all know about my past, but I know none of yours. How did you come to fight with one another, where are you from?"

Sgt. Walker spoke first, "Well, Mckoy, Gerling, Song and I have been fighting with one another since 2008 in Iraq, and Rubio and Rae have been with us since 2009. We have been training with Maski, Perez and Schneiter for a few months now for going to Afghanistan, but it seems like we will not be going there anytime soon."

Eragon did not have any idea about where Iraq or Afghanistan were but Song had a map and Gerling was able to point out where the countries were located compared to where they were now. Once Eragon understood where these countries were, the squad told them where they were born and grew up. Eragon was surprised by the distances that separated where these men were born. In Carvahall, people rarely traveled more than 10 leagues from where they lived. However, listening to these men tell them where they were from, entire oceans separated their birthplaces. Most of Walkers squad were born in the United States, Walker was from Montana, Gerling in Boston, Mckoy in New York. But some of his squad were born far away. Song had been born in South Korea, Perez was born in Mexico, and Rubio was born in Spain. The immense distances that these men had traveled in order to become of the same squad impressed Eragon, and made him realize how connected this world was.

After the marines had told Eragon a bit about their lives, Rubio spoke up, "Could you show us some more of that magic? That was fairly cool what you did back in the desert with the Senator."

Eragon thought for a moment, and smiled. He had an idea for how he could show the soldiers some magic and accomplish a goal that he had.

"I can, do any of you happen to have a mirror?" Eragon asked. Gerling went into his pack and pulled out a hand held mirror. Putting the mirror out in front of him so that the marines could see, Eragon imagined in his minds eye Arya. He imagined her long, flowing raven-black hair, her stunning green eyes, and the scent of crushed pine needles that surrounded her wherever she went. When he had a good image of her in his mind, he spoke, "draumr kópa"

The gathered marines gasped as the image in the mirror changed from the ceiling of the V-22 to the image of Arya sleeping in her tent. Eragon smiled to himself, _She is safe_, he told Saphira, _Galbatorix has not attacked, Arya is safe with the Varden._

_That is good news little one, we will be back with them soon_, Saphira said.

"Who is she?" Sgt. Walker asked.

"That is Arya, she is the elf that I told you about at the desert."

"She is beautiful," Walker commented, "It must be nice to be able to check in on the ones you care about when you are away from them."

"Yes it is," Eragon said as he let the magic in the mirror fade, "but I can only see people and places that I have already seen before."

They started to land at the base not long after Eragon showed the marines his scrying. When the doors opened, Eragon saw a compound with five large buildings. The marines behind him started to unload their equipment, and Sgt. Walker came out to stand with Eragon. "Well, this is what we have to work with it looks like. Come with me and I will give you a quick tour while the squad gets set up."

The base was at the tip of a mile long peninsula that jutted out into the lake. Two of the buildings, Walker said, were troop housing. They were near the tip of the peninsula and were long structures. Further inland, there was the mess hall and kitchens in a large square shaped building. Beyond that, there was a medical center and an armory.

The buildings had not been used for over 20 years, and did not have electricity apparently, so they were completely dark. The living quarters were large enough so that the whole squad and Eragon would be able to fit in one for the night. They decided that they should get some sleep, and get ready to prepare the base in the morning. It was decided that Schneiter and Maski would keep guard for four hours, and after that, Perez and Rubio would take over.

Eragon and the 7 other marines prepared for bed. Eragon was in one of the beds closest to the end of the living quarters so that Saphira could sleep just outside the window. Before Eragon got in bed, Cpl. Gerling came over and handed Eragon his mirror.

"I figure you might need this more than I do. They have mirrors here, and you probably want to be able to check up on people back home."

Eragon thanked Gerling and got in his bed after Gerling walked away. Deciding to make use of the newly acquired mirror, Eragon chose to scry Arya, Roran and Nasuada. Knowing that the people that he cared most for were safe, Eragon slipped off to sleep.

* * *

Eragon awoke before sunrise the next morning and decided to go outside and walk around. Exiting the barracks, Eragon found Perez and Rubio outside, walking around the camp and watching the forest that came to the edge of the base. Once Rubio saw Eragon, he came over. "You are up early. Breakfast will probably not be ready for another 30 minutes if you want to walk around camp some."

Taking Rubio's advice, Eragon familiarized himself with the landscape. The trees up here reminded him much of the Spine, and as he walked into the forest, he noticed some wildlife activity. _A beautiful place to hunt_, he thought.

_I might have to do so soon_, Saphira said, _I have not eaten since we crossed universes._

_You will probably have plenty of time to hunt while they work on getting us back home_, Eragon assured her, _I just can't wait to get your saddle repaired and fly._

_We should fly as soon as you have eaten_, Saphira said.

As it turned out however, Eragon and Saphira would not be able to fly that day. After a breakfast of instant eggs and canned meat, Sgt. Walker informed them that several airlifts would be coming in with the equipment needed to get the base running again and for Dr. Saunder to do her work. There would be many people coming on these airlifts that had not seen dragons before, and so Saphira would have to remain hidden.

Disappointed, Eragon and Saphira agreed to not fly that day, and Saphira moved into the thick of the forest. Eragon went to accompany her, and Sgt. Walker informed them that he would be staying with them as well.

Hidden away in the forest, Eragon, Saphira and Sgt. Walker observed as the V-22's came and dropped off their goods. The first one came about 30 minutes after breakfast. Sgt. Walker informed them that this one contained their food supplies for the month, and a generator for their electricity.

"Are we really going to be here for a whole month?" Eragon asked

"I am not sure," Walker admitted, "I would probably say that we are going to get you home sooner, but we have to be prepared to stay here I case we can not find a way that quickly. I have faith in Dr. Saunder however, she is one of the smartest people on earth, and she has you and your magic to study."

Eragon learned some more about the Earth. He learned about electricity and radio waves, he learned about cars and roads, and anything else that Sgt. Walker could think to tell Eragon about. Once Eragon's head was spinning with new information, he continued teaching Sgt. Walker of the Ancient Language. This time, Eragon used some spells while teaching Sgt. Walker. Eragon raised several stones and maneuvered them through the air, set fire to a small pile of sticks using brisingr, and raised some water from the ground to put it out.

Eventually, a second airlift came in. This one contained Dr. Saunder and her equipment. It took a much longer time to unload rather than the last time, and they moved all of the equipment into the medical center. Eragon was excited to see how Dr. Saunder was going to research and help get him home, however he had to wait a bit longer as there was still another airlift coming in. The Senator was sending Dr. Charles Purington to the base to help with the project. The Senator had said that Purington had already done some research into the area of alternate universes before Eragon and Saphira had arrived, and was probably the leading expert to talk to about universes. While they waited for the last Airlift to arrive, Walker made the mistake of agreeing to share riddles with Saphira. Eragon started out listening to the both of them, however after a while, he started thinking about the Varden.

The Varden would not be able to wait for Eragon to return. The Varden would have to move on and take new lands in order to capitalize on their victory over the Empire at the Burning Plains. Eragon knew this, and he knew that Nasuada knew this, but it frightened him that the Varden would have to move deeper into the Empire, closer to Galbatorix and Murtagh, without Eragon and Saphira there. He thought about Arya and Roran, and the whole village of Carvahall. They would all be put further in danger the longer that he remained here.

Thinking of Roran, he suddenly thought of Katrina. A pang of guilt crept at Eragon as he realized that he was not going to be able to help Katrina for as long as he was over here. He wondered what Roran would do. He wondered if Arya or Nasuada would help Roran to save Katrina.

"Shit," Walker exclaimed, taking Eragon away from his thoughts, "How the hell am I supposed to know that a dwarf has seven toes?"

_It is common knowledge_, Saphira replied, _I would have told you if you would have asked._

"I don't think it is quite fair to pick answers that I do not have a way of knowing."

As they continued to discuss the legality of riddle answers, Eragon took out the mirror that Cpl. Gerling gave him. He thought of Arya again, and spoke the words to scry her. She was at the river where he had been when they disappeared. It looked as if she were there with Roran and a few of the villagers from Carvahall looking for where he could have gone. Eragon felt a pang of guilt for the worry that he was causing Roran and the rest. He could see that they were looking everywhere for traces of where he had gone, but he knew that none would be found. He wondered what they thought of him, did they think that he had run away because of what Murtagh had told him? Or that he was afraid of Galbatorix's power? What would they think of him when he got back, would there even be a Varden to get back to?

He was interrupted as the last of the V-22's came in to drop off Dr. Purington and his supplies. It also sounded like it was a good time to interrupt Saphira and Walker who were in yet another dispute.

"No, you would not be able to fly overhead to see the way!"

_Well it only makes sense, I am after all a dragon. Should I not use my wings?_

"No, the whole point of the riddle is you are supposed to use the signpost on the ground, you are not supposed to be able to fly"

_Well how would I do that? I do not have any hands to grasp the signpost._

"You are unbelievable Saphira, you know that?"

"When you guys are done arguing," Eragon intervened, "It looks like the last of the supplies are being dropped off."

Once the Osprey had flown away over the mountains, Eragon along with Saphira and Sgt. Walker made their way out of the hiding spot and headed back into the base. When they got to the base, they went to the medical center to meet up with Dr. Saunder and Dr. Purington. When Eragon entered the building, he noticed a variety of what looked like a lot of advanced equipment along with some medical supplies. Dr. Saunder came over to them as Eragon and Walker stepped inside.

"Ah, there you are," she said, "I was expecting you guys to show up after the airlifting was done. I think that we should get started on some tests as soon as possible. Would you and Saphira be willing to help me out after dinner with some readings. I am really interested in your brainwaves, especially when you use magic. And I would be interested to see what our sensors can pick up when you use your magic. If I can pinpoint how your magic manages to affect energy, I may be able to better understand the forces that brought you here."

Eragon did not understand much of what Saunder said, however it sounded like it would help them get him back to the Varden. "Saphira and I can definitely assist you after dinner. Just tell us what we need to do.

"Is the dragon here yet?" a voice behind Dr. Saunder called out.

The voice belonged to Dr. Purington, and Eragon got his first good look at the man as he stepped out from behind a pile of equipment. The man was about a head shorter than everyone else assembled in the room. He had thinning red hair, and large round glasses. He looked to weigh more than anyone else in the room even though he was shorter than anyone else. Eragon guessed that this man had not done much physical activity in many years other than walking.

"Saphira is just outside," confirmed Sgt. Walker.

"Good, we should start testing her as soon as possible," Dr. Purington turned towards Eragon, "Ah, you must be the boy," he looked at Eragon's eyes and ears and a curious look overtook his face, "I wonder what you are. You are clearly no longer human. It might be helpful to take DNA tests on the boy."

"I have gained some elven features from being a dragon rider, and a dragons blessing I received at the Agaetí Blödhren. I am still human however," Eragon replied defensively.

Purington scoffed, "You may have once been human, but I would bet that these elves mutated your body. I would bet that there is less human in you than, other stuff. Anyways, I should go prepare the tests for the dragon. We should get started as soon as possible."

With that, Dr. Purington left Eragon, Walker and Saunder to talk amongst each other. "Sorry for Dr. Purington's attitude Eragon," Dr. Saunder began, "I have been with him for a short time, and he seems to be quite blunt in his mannerisms. But he is smart, and his goal is to return you to your universe."

"Let us go to the mess hall and have some dinner," Walker suggested.

Saphira left into the forest to hunt for some food while Eragon and the group went the mess hall to see what was being made for dinner. Cpl. Gerling had made some spaghetti and meatballs with steamed vegetables for dinner. Almost everyone at the base ate dinner together. Dr. Purington came and got a plate of food, but then retired to his lab to do more research. Everyone else was at the table enjoying their conversations.

Eragon sat next to Sgt. Walker and asked him some more of his past. Walker's father had also been in the marines, and was one of the largest influences on Walker joining the marines. Walker did not know his mother much because she left his father when Walker was only 5. His father had died a few years ago in a car crash, so Walker did not have much in the way of family now. Gerling, Mckoy and Song however became Walker's family, being the people that he trusted most over their missions in Iraq.

After they were done with dinner, they went their separate ways. Eragon went with Dr. Saunder and Lance Cpl. Song to take part in a few tests. The tests were fairly simple, Dr. Saunder hooked up some wires to Eragon's head and across his torso. She then pointed several machines at Eragon and asked him to preform some simple magic. She gave him a few rocks to move through the air, asked him to set fire to a set of papers, and had him bring water out of a cup and hold it in sphere shape for 10 seconds.

While Eragon was doing this, Dr. Saunder was moving around between her computers and sensors, monitoring all of the information that she was receiving. Eventually, Eragon began to get tired, and began to yawn. Noticing Eragon's desire to sleep, Dr. Saunder suggested that they stop testing for the night and resume in the morning.

Eragon left the medical center and walked outside. Saphira was waiting for him there.

_How were your tests little one?  
_

_Fairly simple_, Eragon responded, _It was almost like the tests that the twins gave me, except they were shorter and the doctor did not want me to accidentally kill myself. How were your tests?_

_Painful_, Saphira responded, _I do not enjoy Dr. Purington's ideas of tests. He stuck needles in me to draw blood from me. He even wanted to take a scale off of me to study!_

_Did you let him? _Eragon asked.

_I growled fairly loudly, I think that got my message across._

_They are trying to get us home_, Eragon replied.

_I know, I just wish that the way home were not so pointy._

Eragon chuckled, _Tell you what Saphira, how about tomorrow, you and I take a flight around the lake. It has been too long since we have flown together._

_That it has_, Saphira confirmed.

Tired, Eragon entered the sleeping quarters, and got in bed. Almost as soon as his head it the pillow, Eragon fell asleep.

* * *

**So what did you guys think? I think that the pace of the story will start picking up soon. Next chapter will probably be Arya's point of view. Please review with your comments and complaints.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: First, I own none of the characters from the Inheritance Cycle. Second, All original characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.**

**OK, Here is the first full chapter from Arya's point of view. I am interested to hear what you guys think about this chapter. Be sure to review and tell me what you think about how I portrayed Arya, she is the hardest person for me to capture.  
**

* * *

Arya awoke early in the morning and prepared for the search that she was sure that Nasuada would begin for Eragon. After donning her black leather clothing and sword, she scried Eragon quickly to see him walking with Saphira along a white landscape, Eragon was still in a place that Arya had never been before. Seeing Eragon in the mirror, an almost imperceptible sigh left Arya's lips, Eragon was still safe, her dream had meant nothing.

Ready for the day, Arya exited her tent and began to walk through the maze of the Varden. She arrived at Nasuada's tent and after announcing her presence, waited in front of the six nighthawks until she was allowed entrance. When she went inside, Arya saw that Roran and Nasuada had already been conversing.

"Arya," Nasuada began, "I was just about to call for you. We are going to begin the search for Eragon, and were hoping that you would take us to the location that you last know that he was, and assist in the search."

"I can assist in your search," Arya said, "How many of the Varden will be involved in the search?"

"For now, it will be a small search, Roran and 20 members from Carvahall will be with us. I do not want word of Eragon's disappearance to spread."

Concurring, Arya left the tent with Nasuada and Roran. They met up with 20 men from Carvahall and Arya led them to the spot by the river where she had seen Eragon's mental image.

"This is where he was when I was speaking to him."

Moving into the area, Nasuada crouched and looked at the large footprints on the ground. "These have to be Saphira's tracks, Thorn would have made much larger footprints."

A ways away, Roran was looking at the ground. "This looks like where Eragon paced for a little bit. OK men," he said, addressing the search party from Carvahall, "look around and see if you can spot a sign of where they could have gone."

The gathered men spread out around the river and began a search pattern. Arya walked over to where Nasuada was standing. She looked at the tracks around Nasuada and a confused look crossed her face.

Noticing the look on Arya's face, Nasuada asked, "What troubles you Arya?"

Arya collected her thoughts for a moment, before finally answering, "Saphira landed over there," Arya commented, pointing at a area that had been disturbed a few paces away from the river, "and walked over here. You can see the disturbance of the plants and dirt where she landed, however you can not see the signs of where Saphira took flight again. Saphira can not have flown away from where she was standing here."

"Good observation Arya. Could they have gone in the river?"

Arya thought about it for a moment, "That is a possibility."

Nasuada called over Roran from where he was searching and shared Arya's observation with him. "Can you and some of your men search a bit up and down the river to see if they could have exited the river there?"

Roran nodded his affirmation and sent some men up and down the river. They thoroughly searched the area until mid day, but they could not find a single sign that Eragon and Saphira had left where they had been when Arya was talking to them. Feeling a sense of disappointment, the group walked back into the Varden camp in order to decide their next plan of action.

Roran sent the assembled villagers from Carvahall back to their families, and Trianna and Jörmundur joined Arya, Roran and Nasuada in order to discuss the events. Before they arrived at Nasuada's tent, a commotion at the northern part of the camp attracted their attention. The group set off to the north, and witnessed as 12 elven forms entered the camp. Arya recognized Blödhgarm's unique appearance. As the elves approached, Arya noticed the groups various reactions to Blödhgarm's appearance. The blue fur from a forest cat and the fangs of fangs of a wolf, along with the eyes of an eagle caused Roran and Jörmundur to give an inquisitive look towards Blödhgarm.

Noticing the increase in Nasuada's breathing and the flushed look that was overcoming her face, Arya leaned in towards Trianna, "You may wish to put a ward around Nasuada to protect her from Blödhgarm's scent," she said quietly.

Trianna looked towards Nasuada and quickly began on a protective ward. When Arya looked back at Nasuada, her emotions seemed to be calming down.

"Lady Nasuada," Blödhgarm began, "I am Blödhgarm, and we are here to provide assistance to Eragon in any future conflicts he is to have against Murtagh and Thorn."

"Of course," began Nasuada. She gave a sideways glance to Arya before continuing, "Eragon is currently out working on his aerial maneuvers with Saphira. Could you please come with us to my pavilion so that we can inform you on the situation in the camp?"

"Certainly Lady Nasuada"

The new, larger group arrived at Nasuada's tent. The eleven other elves with Blödhgarm lined up outside the tent and the rest of the group went inside.

Once the group was seated around the table, Nasuada began speaking, "I have called you all in here today, because the Varden faces a grave problem. Around midday yesterday, Eragon and Saphira disappeared without a hint at where they could have gone."

Blödhgarm gave a surprised look to Nasuada while Jörmundur and Trianna started speaking.

"What happened?" asked Jörmundur with concern, "Our military forces can not face Galbatorix without a dragon rider, he is our most valuable asset!" he exclaimed.

"Has anyone tried scrying him?" Trianna asked.

"Yes," Arya said, "I have scried him yesterday afternoon and this morning. Both times he has been with Saphira, however neither time could I see where he was. He is not in any part of the Empire that I have been in."

"Has he run off? Could Eragon have become too afraid now that Murtagh is under Galbatorix?" Jörmundur asked.

Before Nasuada could respond, Roran spoke up, "Eragon would not have abandoned us. He would not leave the townspeople of Carvahall and the Varden vulnerable to Murtagh and Thorn willingly. Either something has come up that could help the fight against the Empire, or he is being held against his will."

After a moment of silence, Trianna spoke up, "So what does this mean for the Varden? What should we do now?"

Jörmundur answered her question, "The Varden can not possibly wait for Eragon. He may be our best weapon against Thorn and Murtagh, but our army will start to run out of supplies and morale if we do not advance into the Empire. We have momentum now after our victory over the Empire, losing that momentum to stay here is simply not an option."

"I agree," Nasuada said, "I have decided that the Varden will move before nightfall north into the Empire. We have already searched the area around where Eragon was last known to be, but there has been no trace. Even if we were to stay here for another week I doubt we would find anything new."

"You can't leave Eragon behind," Roran protested, "We have to find Eragon. He is the rallying symbol for the Varden now. To go on without him would be crazy."

"Roran brings up a good point," Nasuada said, "Without Eragon, not only would Thorn and Murtagh be more likely to think that they can attack unopposed, but the army would most likely lose morale." She turned to Blödhgarm, "Blödhgarm, would you and the other elves be able to make the image of Eragon and Saphira in order to make the Varden believe that he is with us?"

Blödhgarm thought for a moment, "We could probably make a representation of Eragon and Saphira, we would need some memories of what they look like in order to make an accurate representation, and the image would be best observed from a distance as it might not look like Eragon close up."

"I can provide the memories of Eragon and Saphira for you," Nasuada responded, "And it should not be too much of a problem to keep the images at a distance. We can have it patrol the skies and practice outside the camp. For the night, you can set it down in the Carvahall section of the camp and we can trust them to not let the rest of the camp know that Eragon is missing."

"This is insane," Roran exclaimed, "How can you just overlook that Eragon is missing. We should wait here and find him before we move on. Tell them Arya, we have to wait for Eragon to return."

Arya chose her words carefully and began to speak, "Unfortunately Roran, Nasuada has a point. We simply cannot wait for Eragon to return to us. Even if we did not have to worry about losing morale and momentum after we caused the Empire's forces to retreat, an army of this size can not wait weeks in one place. The landscape simply can not provide enough food, and if we were to try and wait we would put too much strain on the supply chains. We do not even know where Eragon is. He could be further in the Empire, or he could have gone down south into Surda. We do not have the ability to wait."

Roran looked around the table, and seeing that he was the only one opposed to the idea of continuing the Varden's movement, he gave a defeated sigh, "I will tell the townspeople from Carvahall about their role in this deception then I guess."

Nasuada spoke up, "Thank you Roran, I know that this must be hard to lose your cousin so soon after you had just found him again. Know that we will keep looking for Eragon, but we have to keep moving into the Empire." She turned to Jörmundur, "Can you please inform the troops that we will get ready to move within 4 hours."

Jörmundur nodded, "I will go and get the troops prepared to leave."

Jörmundur left the tent, and Nasuada turned to the rest of the people gathered. "Blödhgarm, could you go and inform the rest of your elves of the situation and our plan. And Trianna, I need you to go and prepare the rest of Du Vrangr Gata for combat without Eragon. Tell them that he will need to put all of his efforts into fighting Murtagh, and that they must be prepared to fight the Empire's magicians on their own."

Blödhgarm and Trianna both stood and left the tent, leaving Arya, Roran and Nasuada alone. "Thank you for consenting to this course of action Roran. It is one of the hardest decisions that I have had to make as the leader of the Varden, I want you to know that. I am glad that you were able to see why this is what we believe we must do."

Roran nodded, "Of course. I realize that we can not remain here for too long. I just let emotions take over. I do not like the idea of leaving Eragon behind so soon after I have just been reunited with him."

"I know Roran," Nasuada said, "We will try and find him, we can not face Galbatorix without him. You two may wish to go and prepare your belongings for traveling again. I want to have a foothold in the Empire by nightfall."

Arya and Roran both stood and left the tent. Arya began to walk towards her own tent, however Roran asked her to wait a while to speak with him.

"Eragon can't have left the Varden Arya," Roran started, "There is no way that he would leave, especially now that he knows that Carvahall is with the Varden. There is too much that he cares about here for him to consider leaving."

"Something caused Eragon to leave," Arya responded.

"Not cowardice though, I know Eragon, and he cares too much about you and the Varden to leave them vulnerable to the Empire."

"Why do you say he cares for me?" Arya asked.

"I saw the ways he looked at you just after the battle of the Burning Plains," Roran responded, "I could see his eyes, and in them I saw more love and caring than I have ever seen in him. You are too important to him for him to consider leaving you."

Arya paused for a moment before saying, "Eragon and I are only friends. There is nothing attaching us to each other more than that."

"Perhaps for you there is not," Roran replied, "but after being with Eragon for all of his life, I can tell you that he cares for you. And he would not willingly leave someone that he cares for as much as you in alone in harms way."

"Thank you for letting me know Roran," Arya said, "we should probably prepare for our departure."

Roran agreed and went on his own way to prepare for the Varden's departure, leaving Arya to her thoughts.

"Arya!"

Her thoughts had to wait a moment it seemed. Arya turned behind her to see who had called her and came face to face with a woman with short, curly hair.

"Angela," Arya said, "what brings you to this part of the Varden?"

"Eragon," Angela replied, "Could we talk in your tent about him?"

Wanting to hear what Angela had to say, Arya agreed and brought her into her tent. "What did you wish to know in regards to Eragon?" Arya asked.

"Primarily I wish to know where he is," Angela replied.

"He should be flying over the Varden now. I believe that he is patrolling and keeping an eye out for Empire forces and Thorn."

Angela stared into Arya's eyes, "I want to know where the real Eragon is, not that fake one that is flying above the camp."

Arya conceded defeat, "We do not know where Eragon is, he has disappeared. How did you know that he was gone? What made you think that the image that Blödhgarm is producing was not Eragon?"

"Well," Angela replied, "When Eragon had almost gone two days without getting into trouble around camp, I got suspicious." Noticing the disbelieving look in Arya's eyes, Angela continued, "All right, I actually scried him, but that was because he had not caused trouble for so long. I am impressed at Eragon, for he has made it to a part of Alagaësia that I have never been to. There are not many places throughout the lands that I can not see when I scry someone."

"I see the same when I scry him," Arya admitted, "Eragon and Saphira have been missing since midday yesterday."

"And yet the Varden is preparing to continue on," Angela said, "are we not going to look for Eragon?"

"We already have, we searched by the river where he disappeared, however there was no sign of where he could have gone. It looked like he and Saphira vanished into the air."

Angela remained silent for a few moments before finally deciding to speak, "You should wait at the site that he disappeared."

"Why do you say that Angela?"

"Because knowing Eragon, he has just gotten himself in a lot of trouble, and he will need someone to get him out of trouble. I have a feeling that it is not natural how Eragon disappeared."

"Do you believe that someone used magic against him?"

"Possibly, maybe even inadvertently. I have a feeling that if you wait where Eragon disappeared, something will be revealed."

Arya looked at Angela, suspecting that she was hiding something else that she knew, "What are you concealing Angela? Why do you want me to be at the place where he disappeared?"

"To be completely honest, I do not know why someone should wait where he disappeared, I just have an instinct that tells me that it should be done. And it should be obvious why you should be the one there, you are probably the person that he cares for most, and the most able to get him away from any trouble that he has found wherever he is. Besides, I know that you care for him too, and you want to make sure that he is safe."

"Eragon and I are merely friends," Arya replied for the second time today.

"Eragon does not look at you as only a friend," Angela said, "And I have a feeling that you care for him more than you let on, am I right?"

"Even if I did have more feelings for Eragon than friendship, I would not distract him from the fight against Galbatorix," Arya deflected.

"Does that mean that you do care for him more than a friend?" Angela asked.

Arya thought for a moment, "I can not care for him as more than a friend," Arya asserted.

Angela sighed, "Maybe you believe what you are saying Arya, but I can tell that at least Eragon cares for you. And if you cared for him as a friend, you could wait a couple days at the site of his disappearance. You can easily catch up with the Varden if my instincts are wrong, and if Eragon needed your help, where would you want to have been?"

A voice seemed to speak in Arya's mind, _w__here were you? _Pushing the dream from last night to the back of her mind, Arya finally responded. "I will stay at the site for a few days. It makes sense to possibly see something that we could not see during the search today, and if it does turn out to be nothing I can catch up to the Varden before they have made it to any large city."

Angela's face lit up, "Thank you Arya, I knew you would understand my feeling. I would have stayed, but I have too many supplies to take on foot, I need to put some with the caravan."

With that, Angela took her leave and left Arya to her thoughts. Why was Arya doing this? It was easy to say that she was doing this because the possible benefits from staying outweighed the minor inconvenience from having to catch up with the Varden. But truthfully, Arya herself did not know why she was following Angela's advice. She knew that Angela was wiser than her years. Not only that, but Angela was older than she looked. But even then, Angela had provided little in the way of reasons to stay there. She had only said that she had a feeling that it was the right thing to do. Arya finally decided that she was going to wait behind the Varden because she was hopeful. She had to believe that she could possibly find Eragon. The Varden needed a dragon rider, and Arya would like to have Eragon for he was a good, friend to her. They were no more than friends, and that is all that they could be currently.

So Arya went to inform Nasuada that she would be waiting behind the Varden, and when night fell, The Varden was already half a league north of where they had been in the morning, while Arya was with her tent next to the river where Eragon disappeared.

Arya sat outside her tent as night fell. She wondered what Eragon was doing now, and how he had disappeared from the Varden. If staying here could get Eragon and Saphira back to the Varden, then all of it would have been worth it.

Arya looked around the plains, and could not see anything out of the ordinary. Feeling a sense of disappointment, she turned her head to the ground and picked some blades of grass from between her feet. Deciding to distract herself from her thoughts, Arya started to craft a boat made of grass. After putting immense detail into the aspects of the boat, Arya finally thought it was time to let it go. Saying a quick phrase in the Ancient Language, she sent the boat off on an endless journey across Alagaësia.

The boat flew up into the air a few feet and started to head north, _that is where I should be going now_, thought Arya. She got up and decided to head into her tent to get some sleep.

*Flash*

Arya came to her senses slowly. She could feel the cold floor beneath her face, and hear a weird hum in the air. Suddenly she realized that she was no longer in the Burning Plains. Quickly raising her head she looked about her. In front of her there were 6 men, all wearing black uniforms and holding strange devices in in their hands at their sides.

Quickly shifting her position, Arya put her feet firmly on the ground and crouched, ready to combat these men. The men shifted nervously at the speed at which Arya moved, and a man behind them spoke up.

"Give her some space men, she has probably also just crossed universes and must be very disoriented."

The man who said this walked between the men as they opened up a path for him.

"I am guessing that you must be Arya," Arya kept her surprise inside at the fact that this man knew her name, "Eragon has told us a lot about you Arya. I am guessing that you are Arya that is, that was the only elf that he told us about, and those pointed ears would make you look like an elf."

Still not speaking, Arya gave the man a cautious look.

The man sighed, "I think we got off on the wrong foot here, I am Senator Wayne Kenner. Eragon talked with me when he and Saphira were transported here. We are trying to get them back to the Varden, perhaps you could help."

Arya still did not speak to the man.

Finally the man gave up, "Look, I can take you to Eragon, I know where he is. Would you like me to take you to Eragon?"

Arya slowly nodded.

"OK then," the man put a hand out for Arya to grasp, "let's get you to Eragon."

Ignoring the hand, Arya stood up. As soon as Arya stood up, her legs no longer wanted to hold her weight. She swayed and finally stumbled forwards. She could no longer stand and she fell forward.

The Senator caught her as she fell and turned her around so that her eyes were looking upwards. He looked in her unfocused eyes, "What is wrong Arya?" he asked, Arya was having trouble keeping her eyes open. She heard the Senator call out to his men, "We need a medic in here!"

Arya's world went dark.

* * *

**So that was Chapter 4. What did you guys think about it? I am hoping to be able to upload again tomorrow, but I am not too sure. I have my last final Thursday, and I have to get ready to move out during the weekend. I am guessing that if I do not upload by Thursday, it might be Saturday that I upload. Anyways, see you guys then, and as always, please review and tell me what you think.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: First, I own none of the characters from the Inheritance Cycle. Second, All original characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.**

**Okay, I finally got this chapter uploaded. Sorry that it is late, it took longer than I thought to get settled in after the move, I also spent a lot of time changing this chapter around. Anyways, here is some more Walker POV.**

* * *

Walker awoke thirty minutes before sunrise and stepped outside the barracks. He saw Song outside of the mess hall, patrolling the camp. When Song saw Walker, the two men acknowledged each other with a quick nod to each other. Turning away from the base, Walker began moving further out onto the peninsula, towards the tip of the land. After a minute of walking, Walker stepped out of the forest onto the rocky edge of the peninsula. Looking out over the smooth lake, Walker took a deep breath and savored the clean mountain air.

"Beautiful isn't it?" asked a beautiful voice behind him.

Turning, Walker saw Dr. Saunder step out of the trees onto the rocks. Turning back to the lake as Dr. Saunder made her way closer, Walker said, "I love being in the mountains. It is a nice change of scenery from L.A. The mountain air is actually breathable."

Saunder gave a small laugh, "There is a lab in San Diego that is developing a city air cleaner, it is supposed to be able to make city air the same quality as mountain air. I would still chose to be in the mountains any day."

"Did you come up to the mountains much as a kid?" Walker asked.

"Oh yea," Saunder chuckled, "My family loves the outdoors. Every summer, after I was done with school, we would take a trip up to the mountains. My dad loved fishing, and my mom loved hiking around the outdoors. I usually went on hikes with mom though, dad always got up way too early for me to want to fish. How about you? How did you come to like the mountains?"

"I grew up in Montana, and my dad loved the outdoors. We would just camp in the mountains for a week or so. He loved the isolation from technology and civilization. I always remember wanting to race him back to our truck from the campsite. I never won, would disappear from behind me about 10 miles from the truck, but he would always be waiting for me by the time I made it out of the forest. He was a marine so his conditioning was much better than mine when I was a teenager."

"What would you do up in the mountains?"

"We did not do much. We would each bring up a book to read while sitting around camp, and we would usually go on some small hikes during the day. My dad knew every animal and plant that was in the woods. He would point them out to me as we walked along. The best thing that we would do on the trip was our night watch. My dad would take me to a clearing in the mountains and point out all of the different constellations and planets in the sky. It was always amazing to see the sky without traffic lights and houses around. You could see so many more stars."

"That sounds fun. Where does your father live now?"

"He died 3 years ago from cancer."

"Oh," Saunder said, "I'm sorry."

"You didn't know."

A silence fell between the two of them as they turned towards the east to watch the sun rise over the mountains. As the sun started to light up the treetops in front of them, Walker looked towards Saunder. She had her eyes closed as the sun's rays started to streak across her face.

As Walker was admiring her beauty, Saunder opened her eyes and looked towards him. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing," Walker said, turning back towards the lake, "just thinking."

They sat for a few more minutes in silence before Walker decided to start a new topic of conversation, "So how are the tests with Eragon going?"

Saunder's face lit up, "There is so much to talk about with Eragon. His brain chemistry is unique in its function. I have never seen anything like it. When he uses magic, over 95% of his brain is being used. Compared to the 10 percent that we use, that is an amazing amount. Studying his brain had provided us with a 20 year advance in the study of brain chemistry."

"Sounds impressive," Walker said, "How about the Ancient Language? Have you had much time to study that?"

"I haven't studied that for much time, but I have a theory about it. Have you heard him speak it?"

"Yes," Walker said, "When we first met him, he had his sword out. We were afraid that he was a hostile or crazy, but he said a quick sentence that we did not understand, and all of a sudden we were no longer afraid of him. We had never even heard of the Ancient Language, and yet we all seemed to know what he was saying, and believed it."

"Yes," Saunder said, "I think I have a hypothesis about that. It seems like it is a more advanced version of the Esperanto language."

"Esperanto, what is that?" Walker asked.

"It is a sort of universal language," explained Saunder, "it was created by Dr. Zamenhof in the 1870's, and it is supposed to be a easy to learn language. It could transcend political and religious boundaries. This Ancient Language that Eragon can speak seems to be a much more advanced version of Esperanto. Somehow, even though we have never heard this language before, we have an innate knowledge of the language. Not only that, but other animals understand this language. This language could be some sort of original code, or language of all of the universes."

"So this language is some sort of super language?" Walker asked.

"I'm assuming that Eragon has been teaching you the Ancient Language as well," Walker nodded, "well, there are two things I notice as I am learning the language. First, it is a really easy language to learn. It is much easier to learn this language than any other language I have ever learned. Second, it is impossible to lie in this language."

Walker nodded, "I have noticed that, how is it possible to not be able to lie in this language?"

"I don't know," Saunder admitted, "but it would seem as if some point in both our universes evolutions, this Ancient Language was introduced to the biological life forms. The fact that this language is so powerful in both of our universes leads me to believe that there may have been other connections between our universes in the past."

"So how close do you think that we are to sending Eragon back to his universe?"

"We have learned an extraordinary amount of information in the last few days. We are lucky to have gotten Dr. Purington, because he seems to already have studied a fair amount of intra-universe travel, and he has a design in planning already. I would still say that we are at least two to three weeks away from even being able to test any sort of device to send him back."

Walker looked back up at the sky, "It is probably time to head back to base. Breakfast should be ready soon."

The two of them walked back into camp to eat breakfast at the mess hall. After they had finished breakfast, everyone went off in different directions. Eragon went with Dr. Saunder to continue testing, while Saphira and Dr. Purington went outside to complete their tests. Walker decided to go and watch Saphira and Purington while they were testing. Purington had finished with his blood samples of Saphira, and today he was studying her flight patterns. While Saphira was beating her wings and soaring through the air, Purington was setting up cameras from different angles in order to observe how she flew. As Walker was watching Saphira glide through the air, Song sat down next to Walker.

"Song," Walker acknowledged him.

"Sir."

They sat in silence while Saphira raced past them. "What is on your mind Song?"

"Many things sir," Song said, "how long are we going to be up here guarding Eragon and Saphira?"

"I don't know Song. It could finish as soon as two weeks from now, or it could be much longer. Why do you ask?"

"The longer that we are here, the more likely it is for us to get attacked sir."

"Why do you say that?"

"The fact that we have Eragon and Saphira is a threat to other nations sir."

"How are they a threat? Once we can get them home, they will go back to their universe. It is not like they are going to stay around and fight for the United States."

"But the fact that we have them is dangerous sir. Just think how much of a military advantage it would be to produce soldiers that could use magic, or how much of an advantage a nation that knows the most about the Ancient Language would have. The fact that Dr. Saunder and Purington are able to study Eragon and Saphira provides the United States with an advantage over the rest of the world, and no one is going to like it, not even our allies."

"We will have to remain vigilant then. How likely is it that other powers will have learned about them though? We got to them almost immediately after they came to our universe."

"Secrets will always find a way to leak out somehow. It might take a few days, or a few months, but somehow, someone will find out that we have a dragon and a magician in the United States."

"Hopefully Eragon will be able to get back to his universe soon then."

"That brings up the second point that I wanted to talk about. What is going to happen when we get him back to his universe?"

"What do you mean? He will go back to his universe and we will go on with our lives."

"Do you really think that is true sir? It is not often that the United States stays clear of other nation's conflicts, especially when there is an economic or military interest in that nation. Wouldn't we want to intervene in their conflict?"

Walker nodded, "It is certainly possible that we would aid the Varden against Galbatorix. Wouldn't this be a good intervention though? It sounds like Galbatorix is oppressing his people; the Varden is trying to overthrow an oppressive dictator."

"Maybe," Song said, "but we have only heard one side of the story so far. And even if the Varden is the better side in this war, Schneiter would point that last time we helped a movement like that, they became the Taliban."

"Even if they did turn out to become hostile to us, which I doubt would happen; they are in an entirely different universe. How could we possibly end up fighting a separate universe?"

"Only a few centuries ago it was hard to wage war on another continent, now the United States has troops almost the entirely opposite side of the world. What if this is the next generation of wars: wars between universes."

"I hope that it does not come to fighting against a different universe Song."

"Me too sir," they both turned towards the sky as Saphira preformed a magnificent corkscrew maneuver. Song turned towards Walker, a small grin on his face, "Did you enjoy the sunrise with Dr. Saunder?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"I saw you two come back from the forest together," Walker grinned and turned back towards Saphira, "you two would do well together sir," Song said.

"We both just ended up at the lake. And yes, the sunrise was quite beautiful."

"Yes she is sir," Song said as he stood and walked away.

* * *

Later that night, Walker sat in front of the television with Dr. Saunder, Dr. Purington, Eragon and Saphira as they did a videoconference with General Forde and Senator Kenner.

"Talk to us. What is the situation up there?" General Forde asked to start off the call.

Walker stood and spoke up first, "The supplies have been airlifted successfully and the camp is secure. We should be able to protect Saphira and Eragon from accidental discovery."

"Good," Forde commented, "how much do we know about their universe now, can we send them back?"

Dr. Saunder stood to reply, "We have learned a lot about the energy from Eragon's magic, and of their universe. I believe that we should possibly be able to send them back to their universe within a month with luck."

"With my plans," Dr. Purington added, "we could even possibly send them back sooner than that."

"That is good news," the General said, "How are you and Saphira enjoying your stay Eragon?"

"We are appreciative for your hospitality sir, we would not be able to get back to our universe without your help, and for that we are grateful."

Walker spoke up again, "Is there more news about what is happening elsewhere sir, any other universe crossings?"

"Yes," Senator Kenner said, "There was a smaller pseudo EMP strike, this time in Arizona. It took out the electricity at my compound."

"Unfortunately," General Forde said, "nothing was found at the site of impact. We are still searching around the area, but it does not look like anything out of the ordinary crossed over with this EMP."

"I sent some men to assist with the search," Kenner said, "but so far we haven't found anything."

"Depending on the size of the EMP," Dr. Saunder said, "it is possible that not much could have made it across universes. It could have only been an air pocket, or some water that was transported across."

"Could this air be harmful or toxic?" Senator Kenner asked.

"Hardly," Dr. Saunder said, "the EMP from the universe hole only causes trace amounts of radiation. It causes even less radiation than you would get from a cell phone. And from what Eragon has told me about his side of the universe, the air would probably improve the air quality on our side."

"All right," Senator Kenner said, "keep us informed with what is going on up there, and we will be sure to let you know if we find anyone from the other universe."

"Will do sirs," Walker said as he turned off the television.

* * *

Sgt. Walker awoke the next morning later than usual. Looking out the window of the barracks, he saw that the sun had already risen. Sighing, he left the bunk and got dressed to walk to the mess hall. After breakfast, Walker called Gerling over to him, and began to walk the perimeter of the base with the Corporal.

"What did you want to talk to me about sir?" Gerling asked.

"I want to know how prepared you think we are for attack."

"You think we are going to be attacked sir?"

"It is just a feeling that I have," Gerling raised his eyebrows as Walker continued, "It sounds like we are going to be here for at least a month, and Song raised some valid points with me the other day, Eragon and Saphira are a threat to other nations as long as we have them. Apparently there was another EMP strike yesterday in Arizona, but none of our people have found anything yet. What if some other group found whatever crossed over? They would know about the other universe and could guess that the LA EMP was the same thing."

"So you are worried that some other group could be planning to get a hold of Saphira and Eragon."

"Exactly, I need to know how prepared you think we are for an attack on the compound."

"Well sir, there are only 9 of us, 11 if you include Eragon and Saphira. With our weaponry, I would say that we can fend off an attack from any small attack force. We could not take on the Air Force, but I think we could easily take on any mercenary squad. With Eragon's magic and Saphira's size, any covert group that could get forces into the mountains would have a tough time, they would need some heavy armor or air support."

"How prepared are we against armor or air?"

"Right now, we have 2 M72 LAW's, they should do well against ground armor, but against air, I would say that Saphira would be our only defense."

"That is what I thought," Walker said with a sigh, "I should give General Forde a call and tell him that we need to get some Stinger's up here. I want to be prepared for any eventuality."

"Expecting to get attacked by a whole lot of jets sir?"

"Until a few days ago, I would not have expected to be sitting in the mountains babysitting a dragon, so I'm trying to expect anything."

Walker dismissed Gerling and went to the mess hall to call General Forde. After he put in the request for the Stingers, he went to the medical center to watch Eragon and Dr. Saunder while they ran more tests. Eragon was siphoning energy between two car batteries while Dr. Saunder recorded the process from different angles. By the time they had finished, it was almost nightfall. As they were leaving the medical center, Walker pointed at the sword that Eragon had at his waist.

"How good are you with that sword?"

"I am probably the best human swordsman in my universe; however there are still some elves that are better sword wielders than I am. Would you like to spar? I have an extra sword."

"Wouldn't we slice each other to pieces?" Walker asked.

"I can enchant the swords so that they do not have a sharpened edge."

Walker was about to turn Eragon's offer down, but before he could, he heard McKoy's voice behind him, "That sounds like a great idea sir, the guys would love to see some good old sword to sword combat."

"Why not," Walker said, "you will have to teach me some though, I don't fight with swords a whole lot."

"Sounds great," Eragon said as his eyes lit up, "I will go and prepare the swords."

And so, ten minutes later, almost everyone in camp was seated around in front of the mess hall, waiting for Eragon and Walker to start their sparring match. The only people absent were Saphira, Song, Perez and Purington. Saphira was at the lake resting, Song and Perez were patrolling the camp and Purington was off by the lake moving equipment around.

Walker hefted the sword that Eragon gave him in his hands, and ran his fingers along the invisible barrier in front of the sharp edge of the sword. When he was ready, Walker stepped out and set himself into his battle stance, ready to spar.

Walker quickly realized that he would not win a lot of matches sparring against Eragon. Eragon was much quicker and more agile than any opponent that Walker had ever faced in close quarters combat. Eragon was able to easily dodge any attacks that Walker initiated, and usually got 2-3 hits on Walker in his counter attack.

Walker's squad enjoyed the entertainment of the sparring match, and cheered Eragon when he made a particularly good dodge or got a good hit on Walker. Eragon taught Walker how to wield the sword more effectively however. He showed Walker how to block attacks easier and how to attack without showing the opponent where you were planning to strike. Eventually, Walker was able to hold off from getting struck for entire minutes at a time, however he was not even close to being able to strike Eragon.

The spar was interrupted by Dr. Purington who came up to the group, "I need some help moving equipment down at the lake, could I get a few of you to help?"

After a bit of arguing, Rae and Maski were volunteered to go and help Dr. Purington move his equipment. As Purington walked away with Rae and Maski, Walker turned towards Eragon while grabbing his bruised side.

"I'm glad I am not your enemy, you are quite a good swordsman."

"You improved quickly," Eragon commented, "Near the end of our match, you surprised me a few times, I almost gave you a window to strike me."

"It didn't feel to me like you were having too much trouble with me," Walker commented, "You were doi—"

Walker stopped talking as he heard helicopter blades across the lake. Looking across the lake, Walker saw 3 helicopters coming towards the base from the east.

"That is weird," Walker said, "I did not think that we would get the stingers until at least tomorrow."

"Maybe General Forde is more worried than us about attack," McKoy said.

"Oh fuck," Gerling exclaimed, "Those aren't cargo helicopters, and two of those are attack helicopters"

Before Walker could respond, he was interrupted by the sound assault rifles being fired to the south of the camp.

Walker's radio activated and Song's voice came over, "We are being fired on sir, there are at least 15 hostiles to the south of the camp. We are being overrun!"

Walker turned towards the assembled squad, "We are under attack!"

* * *

**So that was Chapter 5. Stuff is starting to heat up. I am not going to promise an update by Friday, but I would not be surprised if I updated by then. I tend to write more when the plot is moving quickly, I want to get it all out there. Next chapter will be an Eragon POV, maybe with a bit of Arya in there. Keep up the reviews, I love to hear what you guys have to say about the story. I just turned on anonymous reviews (I did not realize they were off by default) so if you have wanted to review anonymously, feel free to do so. I want to hear any criticisms about the story that you have.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: First, I own none of the characters from the Inheritance Cycle. Second, All original characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.**

**OK guys, here it is. I know this is way after when I said I might upload it, that is my bad. The combination of writers block and minecraft is not a good one for getting anything done... Anyways, here is the attack finally, let me know how I did here. This is my first time writing an action sequence so I would be interested in hearing what you guys think, also, I tried to make the dialogue better for you guys, so let me know how I did there.**

* * *

Eragon was surprised at how quickly Sgt. Walker improved in his sparring. While Walker was talking discussing who would help Dr. Purington at the shore, Eragon reached out with his mind to speak with Saphira.

_Done waving your pointy sticks around? _Saphira asked.

_Yes Saphira_, Eragon said, _you know I have to keep practicing my swordsmanship, and __Walker is actually a formidable opponent, he improves quickly._

_Yes_, Saphira said, _Rae and Maski are still talking about your sparring. They are quite impressed._

_I was thinking Saphira, and I think that tomorrow would be a good day to practice some of the more advanced maneuvers. It would not be good to get back to the Varden and not be able to fight Murgath and Thorn._

_That sounds like a good idea_, Saphira said, _but__ right now I just need to sleep, todays __testing took a lot out o__f me._

_All right, I'll let you get your sleep_, Eragon said as he withdrew from Saphira's mind to give her privacy.

Eragon turned towards Sgt. Walker and started talking with him, however both of them stopped and turned to look across the lake as they heard 3 helicopters approaching.

_Saphira_, Eragon said as he reconnected with her, _there are three helicopters coming towards you, be careful._

Saphira did not respond to Eragon. Behind Eragon, Gerling exclaimed, "Oh fuck, those aren't cargo helicopters, and two of those are attack helicopters"

Eragon turned back towards the shore, _Saphira! __You should get up here, something weird is going on._

Saphira remained silent. Behind Eragon, Sgt. Walker called out to them "We are under attack!"

"What's going on?" Eragon asked.

"I don't know," Sgt. Walker said, "Song and Perez are under attack at the southern end of the camp," he turned towards his squad, "Move out, get to the edge of the camp and reinforce Song and Perez," Walker's men started sprinting to the medical center at the edge of the camp as Walker turned towards Eragon and Dr. Saunder, "You two go to the barracks, wait there while we take care of this."

"Wait," Eragon said, "I can help you."

Walker turned towards Eragon and hesitated for a moment before agreeing, "All right, but let's hurry."

Eragon and Walker started to run towards the rest of the squad. While they were running, Walker was speaking into his radio, "Maski, Rae, you two protect Saphira and Purington."

As Walker finished speaking on the radio, Eragon and Walker made it to the edge of the camp. Eragon could see Song and Perez taking cover behind the medical center while the rest of Walker's squad took cover behind the mess hall.

As Walker and Eragon ran to the mess hall to take cover, Eragon saw that Song and Perez were stuck behind the medical center, being fired on by over a dozen people spread out in the forest.

Walker went over to crouch beside Gerling, "What is the situation Corporal?"

"There are between one to two dozen hostiles firing on us from the forest. These guys seem to be trained, and they are pinning down Song and Perez pretty good."

A resounding boom came from the medical center and the corner blew up in a cloud of red.

"Fuck!" McKoy said, "They are tearing down Song's cover with RPG's."

Song and Perez backed away from the corner of the medical center, but in the middle of the medical center, the other corner blew up as another RPG hit.

"Sir," Rubio said, "a few more hits and that building is not going to be substantial cover for them. They are getting fired on from too many directions. We need to relieve some fire from them."

"All right," Walker said, "put some pressure on the hostiles."

Schneiter brought his weapon up and started firing at the forest while Rubio took aim with his under barrel grenade launcher. Rubio fired and a swath of forest where they were being fired on from exploded. The eastern side of the medical center stopped taking fire for a few seconds. Before Song or Perez could run towards the mess hall however, they began taking more fire from different locations in the forest.

"Shit," Gerling said, "there are too many of them sir."

"Walker," Eragon said, "should I kill our attackers?"

"I don't know," Walker said, "is there a way to incapacitate them?"

"It would be much more energy consuming, and I am not sure if I would incapacitate all of them, or if some could still attack us."

Before Walker could respond, Schneiter began another burst of fire into the trees. Before he could pull back behind the mess hall wall, a shot rang out, significantly louder than the rest. Eragon and Walker watched as Schneiter's body stiffened and a puff of red exited his back. Schneiter fell to the ground as ruby red blood started to coat the ground he fell on.

"Shit, Sniper!" Gerling called as he and Mckoy took Schneiter by the shoulders to drag him away from the exposed area.

Walker watched as Schneiter was dragged towards them. Turning to Eragon, Walker said in a low voice, "Kill these fuckers."

Nodding slowly, Eragon started to concentrate on the magic in his body. Calling up his magic, he visualized where he saw the enemies firing from, and spoke the word of death, "_Deyja_"

Nothing happened; the enemies continued their assault on the medical center and the mess hall. Rubio fired another volley of covering fire at the forest before ducking back behind cover. "What's the holdup Eragon?" Rubio asked.

"I don't know," Eragon said, "They must have a magician with them, they are probably warded from the words of death."

"Well can we de-ward them?" asked Rubio.

"We would have to kill the magician protecting them," Eragon said. Thinking for a moment, he came up with an idea, "There is another way to kill them."

Eragon drew upon his strength again, preparing to cast magic. This time, however, when he released his magic, he cried out a different word.

"_Brisingr_"

The entire tree line burst into flame, consuming the trees and the humans behind them. The anguished cries of over twenty men filled the mountain air. After a few moments, the cries started to die out the magician must have let his ward down, because Eragon could now feel the agony of the 14 men that were still alive. Once again, Eragon whispered "_Deyja_" and the cries of pain stopped. Letting go of the magic, Eragon took the energy from the fire, and the white hot flames calmed to a simmering tree line.

"Holy fuck," Gerling said, "we have a human napalm strike."

Perez and Song jogged over towards the mess hall, "Thanks for the backup guys, I was sure that we were going to get FUBAR"

Before anyone could respond, Rae came in on Walker's radio, "Watch out guys, the two attack helicopters are coming in on your position."

The squad turned towards the shoreline to see the two helicopters flying over the ground towards them. As they approached, they let lose a volley of rockets that slammed into the medical center, engulfing it in an eruption of red flames. The helicopters flew for another few hundred feet before turning back towards them.

"Shit," Walker said, "They are going to take out the mess hall."

Eragon and Gerling picked up Schneiter by the shoulders and started to run with the rest of Walker's squad as the helicopters came in. The helicopters fired another volley of rockets, destroying the mess hall and throwing Gerling Schneier and Eragon though the air. Eragon quickly cast a spell to protect them from the impact of hitting the ground.

After they hit the ground, Eragon looked towards the shore to see the helicopters leaving. He looked at the larger one in the middle, with a brilliantly blue figure being towed underneath it.

"Saphira," he whispered before blackness overtook him.

* * *

Eragon awoke slowly with a large pain in his head. Opening his eyes, he saw Dr. Saunder above him.

"Good," she said, "you are awake."

"What happened?" Eragon asked.

"We were attacked, the medical center and mess hall are destroyed, Schneiter was hit, and Saphira and Dr. Purington were taken."

"How did this happen?" Eragon asked.

"I don't know," Saunder said, "you would have to talk with them," she said indicating Walker with most of his squad beside the smoldering ruins form the medical center."

Eragon began to sit up to walk over to Walker when he remembered something. "Where is Schneiter?"

"Oh, he is with Gerling and Maski by the remains of the mess hall. His wound is treatable so he should be able to pull through."

"I want to see him."

"Okay," Saunder said as she started to lead Eragon to Schneiter. "I have a quick question for you Eragon."

"What is it?"

"Walker said that you tried to use a word of death to kill the soldiers that were attacking us, but you were blocked, how did that happen?"

"They probably had a magician with them somehow," Eragon said, "the words of death are designed to kill an enemy while using the least amount of energy, however this means that it is also easy for an enemy to block it even if they do not use a lot of power. Does your universe have a lot of magicians?" Eragon asked.

"We don't really know a lot about magic in our universe," Saunder admitted, "however, now that I think about it, some nations are testing using ESP soldiers in their armies. It is possible that these soldiers, with some enhancing drugs, could have ESP, Telekinesis, and they might even be able to use rudimentary magic like you can in your universe."

"That would explain why they were warded from my attack," Eragon said.

They stopped talking about the attack as they approached Schneiter Gerling and Maski.

"How are you doing?" Eragon asked Schneiter.

"Much better now that we are not getting shot at. Thank you for helping us." Schneiter said.

Eragon looked at Schneiter's wound. There was a hole in his right shoulder, about an inch below his shoulder blade.

"It was a through and through. We stopped the bleeding for now, but we have to get medical help," Gerling said.

"Let me heal him," Eragon said. Gerling and Maski backed up to give Eragon room as he crouched beside Schneiter. He spoke the words to heal in the Ancient Language and new tissue and flesh started to close up the hole in Schneiter's shoulder. After a brief drain of Eragon's energy, Schneiter's shoulder was completely healed.

"Wow Eragon, this is amazing," Schneiter said, moving around his shoulder.

"You will still feel some soreness in that shoulder for a week or two, but it is completely healed."

"Incredible," Dr. Saunder said, kneeling down beside Schneiter, "You just regenerated his tissue."

Standing from the ground, Eragon turned towards Sgt. Walker where he was assembled with his squad, "I have to talk with the squad about Saphira," Eragon said.

"Of course," Gerling said, "if you and Dr. Saunder could follow me, Maski, you stay here with Schneiter."

As they approached the group, Sgt. Walker's men stopped talking. Sgt. Walker stepped forward, "Eragon-"

"What happened? Where is Saphira?"

"We don't know what happened Eragon, Saphira was taken by the heavy transport helicopter, our research materials and all our communications based form the mess hall were destroyed. They even took Dr. Purington and his supplies form the shore."

"How did this happen?"

"We don't know that either, we were just going over what we know about the enemy."

McKoy stepped forward and cleared his throat, "Obviously the enemy was well organized and well-funded. They had access to military grade equipment, and executed their operation with flawless timing. While we were busy guarding against the ground attack from the south, the helicopters came in from the east and suppressed Maski and Rae at the shore."

Rae spoke up now, "The helicopters did not give us a chance to fire back; we were pinned behind cover while the Super Stallion came down and took Dr. Purington and his supplies. Saphira must have been sedated somehow because she remained asleep as she was hooked up to a towing cable from the helicopter."

Walker continued, "The Super Stallion took off across the lake to the southeast while the attack helicopters came to destroy the rest of the research notes and communications of the camp. These guys had to have some powerful people behind them."

"Yea," Gerling said, "Four stars powerful." The rest of the squad remained silent, "Don't tell me that you guys haven't thought about it. Those were AH-1Z Vipers. That is military grade technology. How likely is it that not even 24 hours after we request anti air defenses, we get attacked by over 60 million dollars' worth of air tech? I would bet that Forde is behind this and he wanted to attack before our defenses were better."

"But why even send us to the mountains in the first place?" Walker asked, "If he wanted to take Saphira and Eragon, why did he not just send us away in the desert and take them there?"

"Perhaps the General is not working for the United States," Song said, "it is possible that Forde works for another country and only sent us to the mountains to keep us away from a larger United States military presence. That would give him time to contact his handlers and set up a time to take Saphira for whichever country is pulling the strings."

"But why send us to the mountains to protect them?" Rubio asked, "Why would he not just send a dirty squad to 'protect' them?"

"Maybe he did not have any squads close enough to take the job," Gerling said, "He was pretty keen on having us leave for the mountains as soon as possible, the longer that he waited to get Saphira away from LA, the more people would find out about Saphira's existence. He probably thought sending us would keep less people from knowing about Saphira and that he could kill us when he took Saphira."

"Wait," Eragon said while unconsciously sliding a hand to his sword, "you did not know about this attack did you?"

"Of course not Eragon," Walker said, his eyes glancing down towards Eragon's hands, "we were attacked just the same as you were."

"How do I know that Forde did not send you guys in the first place? It could have been Forde that told you to meet up with Saphira and I in the desert."

"_Eragon_," Walker said in the Ancient Language, "_I had no knowledge of this attack before it happened. I have only been trying to protect you and Saphira_." Eragon calmed down a bit as he said these words, Walker added, "If you want you can look through my mind, I have only been honest with you."

"I don't need to look through your mind Walker, I believe you," Eragon said. After a moment to collect his thoughts, Eragon looked up at the squad and spoke again, "Can you help me to get Saphira back?"

Walker slowly looked around at his assembled squad before locking eyes with Eragon, "General Forde told me to protect you and Saphira. Now maybe he is working for another power, but I am confident that any other general would have given that order and I intend to fulfill that order to the best of my ability. Of course we will help you find Saphira."

* * *

Arya awoke with a haze shrouding her mind. Looking around the room, Arya noticed that she was bound to a cot in the middle of a room. Trying to remember what happened; she began to look around the room for exits and tried to conjure up her magic, however, for some reason she could not access her magic.

"Hello Arya," A voice said in the newly opened doorway in front of her, "How are you doing today?"

Arya tried to focus on the man in front of her, but her eyes were having a hard time adjusting to the light from the hallway.

"What have you done to me?" Arya asked.

"We have sedated you as a precaution," the man who Arya realized was Senator Kenner said, "Not quite enough to completely knock you out, but enough to suppress the part of your brain that can access magic. You must understand the need for our safety measures."

"What is going on?" Arya asked.

"That is just what I was about to ask you," Senator Kenner said, "How man elves do you have in your armies? How soon are you planning on invading our universe? Do you have many other dragons?"

"I don't know what you are talking-"

"Bullshit!" Kenner shouted at her, "You know damn well what is going on. Here is what I think is happening, you elves sent Eragon and Saphira to our universe so you could gain power unopposed by any riders that could stop you. After you obtain control of your universe, you will send your armies to our universe and take our world easily because we do not have your strength in magic. It is just like the Conquistadors and the Aztecs, except this time we know what is coming and we are going to prepare for it."

"We are not your enemy; we are only enemies with Galbatorix."

"Ah yes," Senator Kenner said, "you are opposed to the powerful Human king. Tell me, if Galbatorix were an elf, would you still be opposed to him?"

"We are against Galbatorix because he is a tyrant. He slaughtered hundreds of Dragon Riders and oppresses his people."

"Yes," Senator Kenner said, "it is unfortunate; however, dictators do serve purposes. Tell me, in Galbatorix's years of ruling, how many Humans have been subjugated by Elves? In order to fight powerful enemies, one must use a powerful leader."

"_Elves do not want to attack your world_," Arya said in the Ancient Language.

A confused look came over the face of Senator Kenner as he started to calm down. Looking back at Arya, however, his eyes hardened and he slapped her across the face.

"Don't use your magic on me you fucking bitch!"

Arya hardened her look, and turned back towards the Senator, determined to not speak another word to the man.

The Senator did not care that Arya was not going to speak because he was content in continuing his diatribe, "You know, at first we did not even care about Elves. I was going to be content in taking Saphira and studying her for our countries military might. We were not going to let the United States make the next advancement in weaponry or alternate universes and leave Europe in the dust again. We were going to be the countries with the next advancements this time. But then we found you, and we realized that we were not going to have to protect Europe's dominance over the United States, we would instead have to protect Human's dominance over Elves."

"When we got you, we were quite surprised. Your body is much stronger than humans, and when we studied your brain, it had over twice the activity of a human brain even though you were knocked out. As we studied you more and more, we realized that we would have to defend Earth from an attack from Elves. You are too large of a threat to be left to chance."

"Once we get some answers out of you, and study Saphira some more, we should be able to defend against the eventual elf invasion."

Arya slipped at the mention of Saphira, "Saphira is here?"

"Oh not yet," Senator Kenner said, "But she is being airlifted in. We took her from Eragon about 30 minutes ago, quite easily actually. We only lost two ground squads in the attack."

A quick look of concern flashed over Arya's face, which Kenner picked up on, "Concerned about Eragon? Oh he is ok. Once he realizes what the elves intend to do with your universe, he will be a powerful asset against you. Now let's get back to the main topic of discussion. You are going to tell us everything we need to know about the elves military powers. You are going to give us the information we need to prepare for the universe war."

Arya gave him a cold, silent look.

Senator Kenner laughed, "We can get this information from you with your cooperation or without. The United States may not torture, but make no mistake, we are not with the United States.

* * *

Eragon walked into the woods to think about the day's events. After they decided they would help Eragon, Sgt. Walker's squad began to talk about how they would help him.

"We can not involve any other military," Rae said, "If General Forde is compromised, who knows who else we would go to would be compromised."

"He is right," Gerling said, "We will have to track down the helicopters on our own."

"How can we do that?" asked Perez.

"The helicopters left over the mountains to the southeast. There are some towns on the other side of those mountains. We should ask them if they saw the helicopters fly over, and maybe where it looked like they were going. They probably went to an airfield to take Saphira to whatever country is paying Forde."

"How are we going to get to these towns?" Schneiter asked, "Are we going to hike 50 miles?"

"Those helicopters were never going to pick up the ground squads. They must have some ground transportation nearby that they arrived in. I would guess that they have 4-5 SUV's or 4 wheelers nearby. We can take a few of those."

"Ok," Sgt. Walker said, "We will leave tonight, the helicopters already have over a 2 hour head start on us, so they could have gotten a few hundred miles away, but it will take time to organize a flight out of the country, if we hurry we could still catch them before they get Saphira out of the country. I want all of you to gather your belongings, get some supplies together, and get back here in 10 minutes to leave. Song, you go with Rae to find out where the ground troops parked their transportation. We have to catch a dragon."

Five minutes into the packing time, Eragon was ready to go. He wandered into the forest and sat on a boulder. Taking out the mirror that Gerling had given him, Eragon scried Saphira, only to see her in a sleeping position among a sea of white.

Looking back into camp as Song and Rae drove two SUV's into the clearing, Eragon was about to head back in when he had an urge to scry Arya. When he scired Arya, he saw her as well amid a sea of white, however there was another figure with her. As the figure turned towards Arya, Eragon almost dropped the mirror in shock.

He stood and began to walk into camp.

"Walker!"

* * *

**So that was chapter six. I am finally starting to get into the conflict in the story, so that should be coming out in the next few chapters. Now for some bad news, I am going on vacation this coming Tuesday, so I will probably not be uploading from Tuesday through Sunday. The good news is that I should have plenty of airport/airplane time in order to write more chapters during that time! I am going to try to get a chapter up by this coming Monday for you guys, but if I don't, then I dunno, maybe I will find some time to upload it during the vacation. So keep it up with the reviews, did I improve the dialogue this chapter? How was the fighting? Any other questions or criticisms, feel free to let me know in a review.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: First, I own none of the characters from the Inheritance Cycle. Second, All original characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.**

**Hey guys, so sorry about the long time since last upload. I am back from San Diego now, and will be writing more often. I did not get as much writing done on the plane as I would have liked, (First flight I slept the whole way, the second one I got a bit of writing done) Anyways, enough about that.  
**

**This chapter has some M rated violence and torture. Just warning you now that it is in there. Let me know what you think about it. Thanks for all of the reviews that you guys have been doing, I really appreciate that you take your time to tell me what is working and not working with the story.  
**

* * *

Walker surveyed the remains of the base as he watched his squad prepare to leave. Standing among the remains of the mess hall, he looked at the rubble among his feet. Most of the rubble looked the same, however a few pieces of rubble stood out: a partially melted fork, some wires from their communications center, but everything else was indistinguishable. This morning, everything was fine around the camp, but now the camp was destroyed. Some power wanted to take Saphira and tried to kill Walker and his squad. If it were not for Eragon, they would have been able to complete both of those tasks.

As Walker was thinking, McKoy came up beside him, "Is your fireteam ready to go McKoy?" Walker asked.

"Yes. We should be ready to go once our transportation gets here, how are you doing sir?"

"I am packed; I was already ready to go before the attack."

"You know that that's not what I meant sir."

"What did you mean then McKoy?"

"Well, sir, someone in our government has just sold us out. When we leave here, we could be seen as traitors or deserters."

"I have only done what is necessary for our situation. I don't think that whoever ordered the attack on us was working for the United States, unfortunately I don't know who to trust now. I have to adapt to the situation and if anyone has a problem with that they are welcome to leave at the first town we stop at." Walker said, finishing with more hostility than he would have liked.

"Oh no sir," McKoy said while taking a small step back, "I didn't mean to sound like that. We are all right behind you sir."

"Sorry McKoy," Walker said, "I have been on edge since the attack."

"Understandable sir, we all are a bit irritable right now."

They both stopped talking and watched as Song and Rae drove two black SUV's into the middle of the base.

"I should probably go make sure that my fireteam is ready to go," McKoy said.

"Walker!" Eragon called out behind the two men.

Walker and Mckoy turned towards the forest as Eragon walked towards them. "Oh shit, Eragon looks pissed sir," McKoy said.

As Eragon walked towards them, Walker stepped forward to meet him, "What is the problem Er-"

"Arya is here!" Eragon interrupted angrily.

"What, are you sure?" Walker asked.

"I just scried her and she's in the same room as Senator Kenner," Eragon said as he gave a hand mirror to Walker.

Walker looked at the mirror and saw the elven form of Arya in the same white area as Senator Kenner. "Is there any way that this is a mistake?"

"No, they must be in the same location," Eragon said as the rest of Walker's squad arrived along with Dr. Saunder.

"Maybe Arya just came over, Senator Kenner could've just met her," McKoy said.

Walker thought about it for a moment before being struck by a realization, "Kenner didin't just meet Arya," Walker said, "he has been with Arya ever since last night. He must have had her ever since the EMP in Arizona. He just didin't tell us about her."

"Fucking hell," Gerling said, "he lied to us. He is probably the person behind the attack."

"How much you wanna bet Dr. Purington was working for him. He is probably the reason that Saphira was sedated before the attack," Perez said.

"What are we going to do about it?" Eragon asked.

"If Senator Kenner is involved in the attack, it's possible that General Forde is not involved in the attack," Walker said.

"General Forde would never have been involved in the attack," Dr. Saunder said.

"But," Walker continued, "We still can't trust him. He might be working with Senator Kenner." Walker paused for a moment to think before continuing, "Now, since Kenner has Arya, he almost certainly is holding her at his compound. I don't know if Saphira is going to be with Kenner, but I know that Arya will be there. What do you want to do Eragon?"

Eragon looked at Walker, then down at the mirror Walker held in his hand, "I want to get Arya. I want to know how involved Kenner is in what has happened to us."

* * *

Arya did not get any sleep over night. She was not certain if she would have been able to sleep in her situation anyways, but Kenner made his intentions clear before he stopped interrogating her.

"Our doctors studied you, and apparently you have quite enhanced eyesight and hearing," Kenner had said, "much better than human hearing and sight. So we have some specially made equipment made for you," he said while some men set up different sized boxes around the room, "First, we have a high intensity strobe light that will alternate between 30-150 flashes of light a minute. Additionally, we have some high quality speakers to blast high and low pitch noise into your ears. This may cause permanent damage to your ears, but quite frankly I don't give a fuck about your health."

And so, after Kenner left, the long, excruciating night began. Every time the light flashed into her eyes, it seemed to bore into retinas. Her eyes began to water as the lights dug into them. When she closed her eyes tightly, she was able to give her eyes some rest from the assault, however she could still see the lights through her eyelids, and after a few minutes, a throbbing pain began to form in her head, so she settled to leave her eyelids half open.

The noises that she heard seemed much worse than the lights. Her heightened senses heard the variety of excruciating sounds that they played for her. The noises were far louder than any noises in the battle of the Burning Plains. Whenever she began to become accustomed to one of the noises, it would switch to a different noise, an extremely high pitched whine would become a low pitched vibration, the sounds of a dozen babies crying would alternate with the sounds of explosions and agony of dying soldiers. She would have covered her ears with her hands, but her arms were tied to the uncomfortable chair she was sitting on.

All though the night, she listened to the noises and saw the lights while the liquid was pumped into her arm that removed her ability to access her magic.

Arya was almost happy when Kenner came in the next morning, for it meant that the lights and sounds were stopped for him to talk to her.

"Did you have a good night sleep?" Kenner asked as he pulled a gray bag on wheels into the room with metal shapes poking out of the top.

Arya remained silent.

"I will make you talk eventually," Kenner said, "it's completely up to you how much pain you suffer before you talk. I am fine with not laying a finger on you if you just tell me how many elves you have in your universe. How large are your armies?"

Arya's only response was a cold glare.

"Ah well," Kenner said as he pulled one of the metal rods out of the bag and started fiddling around with it, "I think I enjoy this way better."

Kenner raised the rod over his head, and then brought it down on Arya's left hand. Pain shot up Arya's arm. At least one finger was broken judging from the pain.

"Golf is an interesting sport. I really detest watching it, but they sure do make good implements to hit people with," as Kenner said this, he struck Arya in her stomach, "I love watching Soccer, but their sport sucks at making torture implements." He swung again, hitting her in the arm, "Now baseball, they almost have it down pat. The only problem is the bats break too often with repeated strikes," he finished speaking with three quick attacks against Arya's shoulders.

Sighing, Senator Kenner took a seat in a chair opposite Arya. Looking towards Arya, he spoke again, "You going to start talking sometime soon?" Arya's only response was to spit at the Senator. Standing again, Kenner wiped off the spit from his chin before smiling at Arya. "I do love it when you put up a fight."

Raising the club again, Kenner began to swing again, but was interrupted as the door behind him opened.

"Senator Kenner sir?" a man asked as he stepped into the room.

"What is it Dr. Purington?"

"We put the dragon in the hangar, and the connection is ready, we are ready to go," Dr. Purington said.

"Tell the men to begin transportation, I want all supplies and troops across by this evening," Kenner said, "Is there anything else Doctor?"

Dr. Purington briefly glanced up at the raised golf club in Senator Kenner's hands before quickly responding, "Oh no sir."

Kenner watched the door close behind Dr. Purington before turning back towards Arya and smiling, "Let's continue our conversation shall we?"

He swung again.

* * *

Walker and his squad drove the two SUVs overnight through the mountains of California into the Arizona desert. By mid-morning, they had gotten within 4 sand dunes of the compound and camouflaged their cars against being seen by air. After they set up their base, they decided to scout the compound.

Walker, along with Song and Eragon, approached the tip of the closest dune to the base cautiously. Eragon had used some of his magic in order to make them nearly invisible, however any movement in the sand could still be seen by observant, or a lucky sentry.

By the time they got in a position to see into the compound, it was quite clear that they did not need to exercise caution. The troops in the base were busily moving supplies from trucks into the main house, and any mercenaries that were watching the perimeter were focused on the horizon, not on the near walls.

"They probably figure that any substantial force is going to raise a dust trail on the horizon long before they get near the camp," Song said, "they are probably not expecting invisible troops."

Walker looked around at the rolling hills of sand, and agreed with Song. Any vehicles would have put up dust trails from miles away, unless someone had a person who could use magic to keep the sand on the ground. Luckily, Walker's squad had that, so they were able to get almost to Kenner's doorstep without being noticed.

"Look at the activity," Walker said, "they are moving supplies from those trucks into the house. Are they expecting to be staying here for a while, are they preparing for a siege?"

"Look at that hangar over there," Song said, "It looks barely a week old, and it's easily large enough to hold Saphira."

Walker looked from the new metal hangar to Eragon, "Do you sense Saphira here Eragon? Is she in there?"

Eragon concentrated for a few moments before sighing, "I can't sense her in there, but they may be blocking her ability to communicate by her mind."

"Well let's assume that Saphira is in there, where would Arya be held?" Walker asked.

"It appears to me that she would be held in that building," Song said while pointing at an offshoot of the compound opposite of the hangar, "It looks like it's built in the middle of a well-guarded area, I would guess that Kenner added this to his compound years ago for these specific purposes."

Kenner's compound was an old army base; abandoned in the 1970's Kenner bought it and refurbished it to become his own house.

"How many troops do you think are on this base Song?" Walker asked.

"So far, I have only seen around two dozen, but this base could easily be defended by fifty to seventy-five troops. I think any attack we make on them will need to be precise and quick."

They made their way back to camp to talk to the squad about their plan of action. It was decided that they had to strike at both the hangar and the building they suspected Arya to be in at the same time. The consensus was that any guards would try and eliminate the prisoner they were guarding if they knew that the base were being taken, so after much deliberation it was agreed upon that they would split up into two groups. McKoy's fireteam would go with Walker to breach the northwestern section of the wall and secure Arya while Gerling's fireteam would go with Eragon to breach the southeastern portion of the wall and take control of the hangar and hopefully Saphira.

"I want us to attack at nightfall," Walker said, "That way Eragon has to spend the least amount of energy keeping us invisible while we approach the wall. That should also give us the cover we need in the base to make it to our objectives without being picked off by any guards on the high ground."

And so, Maski and Rae kept watch while the rest of Walker's squad rested before their attack on the compound would begin.

Walker was restless, and could not get any sleep even though he had just driven eight hours. Walking out of the camp a ways, he saw another figure sitting in the sand.

As he approached, Walker saw that it was Eragon who was sitting in the sand, watching a lizard run across the desert floor.

"Can't sleep?" Walker asked Eragon.

"No," Eragon said, "I don't feel like I can sleep right now. Not having Saphira with me is too painful; it's like half of my heart stopped beating. I don't feel right without her."

"We are going to get her back," Walker said, "We have a plan, and in less than 8 hours, you will be with Saphira again, I promise you."

"I just can't get over the fact that we are so close to her, and yet we can't do anything to get her. I just want to walk in to the compound now and be reunited with her."

"I know you feel that way," Walker said, "but our plan is the best chance we have for success. Not only is it going to be a tactical advantage for us to strike at nightfall, but we need to rest up. Most of us have been awake for over 20 hours. We need to be rested if we want to do our best to save them. You need to be rested too."

Giving a slight yawn, Eragon stood, "I suppose you are right Walker, I do need to be rested if we are going to attack the base. Are you sure that we are going to be able to get Saphira and Arya?"

Walker looked back towards the camp, and then to Eragon again, "Before tonight is over, I promise you that you will be with Arya and Saphira again."

With that, the two of them turned and walked back towards the base in order to prepare for the assault.

* * *

"I like you Arya," Kenner said as he sat down to regain his breath, "You have willpower. Other people, they barely give me a chance to warm up my swing, but you? You have given me plenty of practice today alone. I guess I may not have learned much from you this way, but you know what? I don't care. Eventually, we are going to find some form of torture that will have you spilling all your secrets, but until then, I really do love hitting stuff, especially when it bleeds."

Kenner stood again and flashed Arya a grin before striking her in the ribs again. Arya's body was in a state of constant pain after the last few hours. Her nose and lips were bleeding profusely, and her ribs provided a constant source of pain. At least two of her ribs were cracked, and her left shoulder was dislocated. Kenner had not been merciful in his torturing of Arya. Over the last few hours, the Senator had almost exclusively beaten Arya, or asked her questions about the elves. The only pauses were for switching golf clubs when one got too bent, and a lunch break where Kenner ate a variety of fruits in front of Arya and offered her some if she would cooperate. When she did not respond, more beatings ensued.

Arya was preparing her body for another series of strikes against it when the door behind Senator Kenner opened once again. "Senator Sir?" Doctor Purington asked.

"What is it now Dr. Purington?"

"The transport is almost complete; we are down to 10 percent base capacity."

"Good, good," Kenner said, "there have been no problems?"

"Not yet sir, however we have gotten word from the Consortium that Walker and his squad have found out about our involvement much quicker than we would have hoped. They may be on their way here now."

"That could be problematic," Kenner said as he put the club down in order to think, "We might have to speed up our departure. I want you to go through with the next set of supplies."

Dr. Purington nodded and left the room. Kenner turned back towards Arya and gave a mocking bow, "Well I am afraid that I must leave you now. I hope you know that I have enjoyed our time together so much, I just wish that you had been more cooperative in that time."

Taking out a radio, Kenner began to speak into it, "Alpha team, come to the prisoner room and eliminate the elf. I don't care how you get rid of her; just make sure she is dead. After you do that, get to the evacuation room for transport."

With that, Kenner put his radio away and left the room, closing the door after him.

Arya quickly began to look around the room for something that she could use as a weapon. Kenner had left the golf clubs, however they were too far away from her to allow her to grab them. The good news was that the IV bag that was causing her to not be able to access her magic was almost empty.

While she tested the bindings again, Arya felt and heard two explosions from outside her room. Raising her head to the door, she began to hear bursts of shots in the distance. Lowering her head again, she began to trash at her bindings.

Again she heard shots, this time from just outside the room. There were a few quick bursts before silence fell again.

The door burst open and Arya saw two men with metal weapons in their hands. They pointed the weapons at her before lowering them and rushing towards her.

As one of them knelt beside her and started to cut her binding on her right arm, Arya compressed all her anger and hatred that had accumulated over the past few days, and with a new surge of adrenaline she prepared to strike.

* * *

Walker and the rest of his squad were in position. Crouched beside the wall, Walker and his men braced themselves for the explosion.

"We are in position sir," Gerling said over the radio, "we will move on your command."

Walker looked at the men assembled behind him, then spoke into the radio, "Prepare to breach in 5… 4… 3… 2…"

Two explosions erupted almost simultaneously as debris flew away from the explosion site. Walker stood and ran towards the newly created gap in the wall. As soon as he got into the courtyard, Walker knelt down into a firing position and began to survey the area.

The mercenaries in the courtyard were not prepared for them. There were only about half a dozen in the courtyard, and most of them had been carrying crates and boxes which now lay on the ground. Some of them had drawn their sidearms and had begun to look around.

One of them, seeing Walker, began firing his pistol before Walker dropped him with a quick burst from his M16. The rest of the mercenaries in the courtyard began to draw their weapons, however after being fired on from Walker and Mckoy's fireteam, and Gerling's fireteam from the other side of the courtyard, they succumbed to the crossfire.

After the men in the courtyard lay either dead or wounded, Walker and his squad began to move to their objectives. Moving to the prisoner building, Walker was about to enter when they were fired upon from a new set of mercenaries from the main house in the compound.

Ducking behind cover, Walker quickly thought about how to best accomplish the mission. Turning towards McKoy he said, "You go with Song and Rubio, I want you to cover us out here and see if you can't gain entry to the house and find Kenner. Perez and I will search through here and find Arya."

As McKoy nodded and began to provide covering fire, Walker and Perez ran into the building. Once they entered, they saw two mercenaries about to enter a door at the end of the hallway. Getting into a firing position, Walker and Perez quickly eliminated the men.

Rushing to the end of the hall, Walker and Perez entered the room with their weapons drawn. As they entered the room, Walker quickly lowered his weapon. The only occupant in the room was the extremely beaten and bloody form of Arya. Strewn around here were several bloodied golf clubs that it looked like she had been hit with repeatedly.

Rushing towards her, Walker removed a combat knife and began to cut through the bindings that were holding her to the chair. As soon as he had freed one arm however, the beaten elven woman quickly grabbed hold of his neck.

Grabbing at her hand, he tried to remove her vice like grip from his neck. Gasping for breath, he stared into her emerald green eyes. In her eyes he saw an extreme hatred pierce into his essence, and he knew that if her hand did not kill him, her eyes would certainly do the job.

As blackness started to overcome his eyes his arms stopped trying to fight Arya and he embraced unconsciousness.

Realizing he was on the ground, Walker began to draw quick, raspy breaths.

Perez knelt down next to Walker, "Shit sir, are you okay?"

"What happened?"

"She got a hold of your neck. I had to hit her with the butt of my rifle."

Walker looked up at the elf in the chair. She looked dazed and was just beginning to focus on the two men in front of her. Once she became focused, the same hatred Walker had seen surfaced again in her eyes.

"Perez, go and guard the hallway, I will handle this."

"Are you sure sir?"

"Just go Perez," Walker said. Perez stood and went outside to keep watch. Turning back towards the elf in the chair, Walker took a few steps towards her. She sat back in the chair and tried to get as far away from Walker as possible. Realizing that she thought Walker was with Kenner, Walker thought about how he could convince her that he was not with Kenner. Remembering the words that Eragon taught him, Walker said, "Eka malabra ono né haina" (I mean you no harm)

Confusion overtook the elf's eyes as she looked at Walker. Then she showed a sense of understanding and the hatred in her eyes was replaced by a curious look.

Taking another step towards the elf, Walker began to talk again, "My name is Sargent Walker. We are here with Eragon to save you and Saphira; we are not with Senator Kenner." Arya stared at Walker for a few seconds before nodding her head. Walker took another step towards Arya and spoke some more, "I am going to cut you from your bindings, is that ok with you?"

There was a few seconds pause before Arya almost whispered her response, "Yes." Taking another step and kneeling in front of her, Walker cut off the other bindings from Arya. Rubbing her wrists, Arya spoke, "Thank you Walker."

Arya began to stand, but stumbled a bit out of her chair. Walker quickly provided support to keep her from falling, "Are you okay Arya?"

Looking at her feet, Arya replied, "I can walk."

Gerling's voice came over the radio at that moment, "Gerling here, we have secured the hangar and Saphira is here. Eragon is checking out how she's doing. What should we do now?"

Walker spoke into his radio, "Take your fireteam and provide support to McKoy, they are securing the main house and trying to locate Kenner."

"That is not going to be necessary sir," McKoy said over the radio, "We have cleared the house, there were only a few troops in here. I think that Senator Kenner escaped."

"How did that happen?" Walker asked.

"I would like to know that myself Sgt. Walker," said General Forde over the radio.

* * *

**So there we go. Arya is saved, Yay! But this means that I have to have Arya and Eragon conversations... I'm anxious about that. Maybe I should find a way to kill Arya off. (JK of course. I know that you guys would kill me if I got rid of Arya) Please review and tell me what you liked, didn't like, what I can fix.**

**In other news, I am starting the background for my second Inheritance Cycle Fic. It is less AU than this one I think, but I don't think I am going to begin actually uploading it until I have finished this Fic. On that note, I do have a tentative ending in mind for this story, so don't worry, unless I fall into a coma this story is still going to be updated, perhaps just not as regularly as some authors on this site...  
**

s/8105053/7/Two_Worlds


End file.
